Look: UAE commences COVID-19 vaccine production with Hayat-Vax rollout

In a historic move in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, UAE has already begun manufacturing Hayat-Vax, the locally-produced inactivated COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

The vaccine, called Hayat-Vax [Hayat means life in Arabic], is the first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine in the region that will be manufactured by a newly created joint venture between Sinopharm CNBG, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world that have supplied over 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine globally, and G42, the leading technology company based in Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the launch of the first COVID-19 vaccine production line in the UAE.

The vaccine is being produced at a facility owned by Ras Al Khaimah-based pharmaceutical firm, Julphar, following the launch of a joint venture Life Sciences and Vaccine Manufacturing in the UAE between Sinopharm and Abu Dhabi’s G42.

The new vaccine plant in KIZAD will become operational this year and over its phased development will have a production capacity of 200 million doses per annum across three filling lines and five automated packaging lines. The JV is already producing Hayat-Vax with its partner, Julphar in the UAE with an initial capacity of 2 million doses per month.

Hayat-Vax is the same Sinopharm CNBG’s BiBP inactivated vaccine that was officially registered by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) on 9th December 2020 and subsequently in China by the Chinese Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) on 30th December 2020 following the updated Sinopharm interim results submitted in China showing 79.34% efficacy.

In his comments on the landmark move by the UAE to commence vaccine production, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said, "The advancement in Life Sciences and Vaccine Manufacturing in our country is UAE’s contribution towards global efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the whole world," stressing that "the UAE, with the guidance of its wise leadership, believes in the importance of strengthening collective international action."

A video grab shows the production of Hayat-Vax in Ras Al Khaimah.

The UAE national vaccination programme achieved the vaccination of over 52% of the country’s population.

Sinopharm's vaccines can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.

This first ever ‘Made in UAE’ Hayat-Vax COVID-19 vaccine will turbocharge the UAE’s leading vaccination programme across 205 medical centres nationally.