UAE Health Minister first in the country to be injected with COVID vaccine

Abu Dhabi: The Minister of Health and Prevention has been injected with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to arrive in the United Arab Emirates.

The first dose was administered to Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad bin Nasser Al Owais in keeping with the plan announced last week by the Ministry of Health and Prevention, according to which frontline health workers will be the first recipients of the vaccine.

"By offering this vaccine, we seek to provide all means of safety to the frontline heroes and to protect them from any risks that they may be exposed to, due to the nature of their work," Al Owais said.

He added that the new vaccine is fully compatible with the regulations and laws that allow a faster review of licencing procedures, following optimistic results from clinical trials conducted by the country's healthcare sector.

"The vaccine is safe and effective and will contribute to mitigating COVID-19-related losses and saving lives."

The UAE approved the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine for first-line-of-defence personnel, who are most at risk of contracting COVID-19.

Earlier, Al Owais had said that the results from the preclinical study, first and second phase trials showed that the vaccine is safe and effective. The third phase with a large number of volunteers is progressing very well. Studies related to the safety of vaccination were reviewed, and the process was carried out under the strict supervision of medical teams.

He confirmed that the UAE’s leadership has taken an integrated set of wise decisions to deal with the pandemic since the beginning of its spread in the country and has made all efforts to support the health sector by providing all resources needed, while supporting scientific progress to find effective and definitive solutions.

He added that the spread of the pandemic around the world has caused great confusion and put health authorities in a difficult and testing challenge, as the greatest difficulty came from making crucial decisions that enable the health care system to deal with the new reality, enhance its ability to control and contain the virus and reduce deaths.