COVID-19 vaccine volunteers free to move around UAE without test

Volunteers for the third phase of the COVID-19 vaccine trial will be free to move around the country without the need for a PCR test.

That's according to Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, the Chairman of the Department of Health - Abu Dhabi, who is one of the first two people to sign up for the trial programme. 

"After having the first dose of the vaccine, we felt no side effects at all. We are now having the second dose of the vaccine. What’s great about this is that anyone who gets the vaccine will be free to move around the country without the need for a PCR test," he said.

Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) and the Department of Health Abu Dhabi said volunteers are exempted from taking any other non-trial COVID-19 test.  

They will need to download the Al Hosn App to identify themselves and benefit from the exemptions. 

.@mohapuae is exempting all volunteers for the Phase III inactivated COVID-19 vaccine trials from all non-trial virus tests. Volunteers can use @AlHosnApp to identify themselves and benefit from the exemptions during all stages of the trials. pic.twitter.com/UjyEBeCDTC

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@ADMediaOffice) August 5, 2020

Currently, UAE residents must produce a negative test result in order to enter Abu Dhabi.

The volunteers of the trial, which began last month in Abu Dhabi, will be given two doses of the vaccine and monitored remotely through phone calls. Their health will be assessed over a 49-day period. 

Around 15,000 volunteers are required in order to conclude the scientific research phase and to take the vaccine to market.