UAE Minister of Health and Prevention takes COVID-19 vaccine jab

The UAE's Minister of Health and Prevention has been injected with the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the country.

His Excellency Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health and Community Protection, received the first dose of the vaccine which is currently in phase III of clinical trials.

Earlier, officials had announced that trials are on the right track, and the results are encouraging in terms of generating antibodies to the virus.

It follows the success of Phase I and Phase II conducted by Sinopharm in China, which resulted in 100 per cent of the volunteers generating antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) after two doses in 28 days.

In less than six weeks since the study began, 31,000 volunteers representing 125 nationalities have participated in the trials.

The vaccine has also been tested successfully on 1,000 volunteers suffering from chronic diseases.

وزير الصحة ووقاية المجتمع يتلقى الجرعة الأولى من لقاح كورونا.. ويؤكد: "نسعى من خلال تقديم هذا اللقاح لتوفير وسائل الأمان لأبطال خط الدفاع الأول وحمايتهم من أي أخطار قد يتعرضون لها بسبب طبيعة عملهم"، موضحاً أن اللقاح آمن وفعال وسيساهم في تقليل الخسائر التي تسببت فيها الجائحة#وام pic.twitter.com/7mgRn2ZU1Z

— وكالة أنباء الإمارات (@wamnews) September 19, 2020

The UAE has already announced plans to start administering the COVID-19 vaccine for emergency cases on a limited basis.

The first recipients will be frontline workers who come into regular contact with patients.