UAE ranks first in the world in number of COVID-19 vaccine doses per 100 people

Dubai: UAE ranks first globally in COVID-19 vaccine doses given at 158.24 doses per 100 people, crossing 15.5 million doses so far.

According to the latest update posted on the portal of the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA), the UAE has distributed 15,650,988 vaccine doses as of July 6. Up to 74.5 per cent of the population has received at least one dose while 64.3 per cent are fully vaccinated, NCEMA revealed.

The UAE also tests more people per capita than most nations and has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world.

According to Dr. Farida Al Hosani, Official Spokesperson of the UAE Health Sector and Director of the Communicable Diseases Department of the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC), the UAE has witnessed a decrease in the number of COVID-19 infections, which highlights the health sector’s ability to control the spread of the virus thanks to implementing the best methodologies for early detection of cases, speed of response, and dealing with infected people and contacts professionally and according to the latest international methods.

Speaking during the weekly media briefing, Al Hosani said that the UAE’s concerned authorities spared no effort to build a statistical system through an accurate information network in accordance with global systems. This is one of the most important factors for the success of systematic and scientific planning, developing professional solutions and drawing workflow plans, she added.

“Since the start of the pandemic, the country’s concerned authorities, in cooperation with the health sector, have been proactive in developing plans to rehabilitate and support response and surveillance teams to ensure the sustainability of the health infrastructure."

Al Hosani emphasized that the UAE’s unremitting efforts were culminated with creating an integrated and advanced health system to examine and treat COVID-19 cases nationwide, where specialized hospitals were opened in various parts of the country as additional medical facilities equipped and prepared to deal with infected people according to the highest international standards.

Speaking about vaccines, Al Hosani said that COVID-19 vaccines are still new and scientific studies are ongoing globally to monitor the effectiveness of vaccines and their impact on the vaccinated, adding that the process of developing and changing vaccines and medicines is still ongoing in a bid to develop appropriate vaccines to counter the genetic mutations that emerge here and there.

She said it is necessary to take into account the importance of giving supportive and additional vaccines to control the pandemic, including the booster dose, which is given after the basic doses to stimulate immunity and is considered of high importance.

Al Hosani made it clear that creating a health system based on primary health care and community participation and awareness is one of the best ways to protect people against infectious and pandemics, and following the instructions issued by health authorities helps limit the spread of this virus.

EDE scanning technology

She stressed that the EDE scanning technology is an innovative, fast and safe method to detect the possibility of getting infected with COVID-19. The technology works through remote investigation without the need to take samples, which allows early investigation and contributes to limiting the spread of the virus in public places at an early stage. This innovative technology can make many aspects of our lives safe and easy, including travel and access to entertainment venues, shops and public places.

The scanning system, developed by EDE Research Institute Abu Dhabi under the International Holding Company, is said to be able to detect a possible COVID-19 infection by measuring electromagnetic waves which change when the RNA particles of the virus are present in the body, therefore providing an immediate result.

Al Hosani went on to say that the results of the trial period showed high effectiveness of the “EDE” systems; More than 20,000 people were tested with this device. The device achieved 93.5 per cent in the percentage of examination sensitivity, which reflects the accuracy of the examination when identifying infected persons, and 83 per cent in the percentage of examination quality, which reflects the accuracy of the examination when identifying uninfected persons.

Earlier last month, the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi had announced the adoption of “EDE” systems to detect infection with “COVID-19”; This is based on the results of the trial period for the use that is currently taking place in the areas of entry to the emirate, selected public facilities on Yas Island, and specific points of entry and exit in the Musaffah area.