COVID-19: Abu Dhabi launches dedicated website to register vaccine trial volunteers
Volunteers must be aged 18-60 years and should not have had COVID-19 in the past
Abu Dhabi: Volunteers in Abu Dhabi who are interested in participating in the world’s first Phase III trials for an inactivated vaccine against the coronavirus can now register on 4humanity.ae.
The dedicated website requires potential volunteers to submit their personal details and contact information to the organisers. Individuals aged between 18 and 60 years of any nationality can sign up for the trials, and their eligibility for trial participation will be assessed after a medical check.
A special hotline has also been set up at 02 8191111 to respond to volunteer queries about the trials.
The vaccine trials are a result of a partnership between Chinese pharmaceutical giant, Sinopharm Chinese National Biotec Group, and Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing firm, G42 Healthcare.
Sinopharm developed the inactivated vaccine, and found it to be safe in the first two phases of human trials. This third phase widens the demographic pool of the trial participants, and the UAE’s multinational population was a key reason for its choice for Phase III trials.
Vaccine trials
The trials will be operated by Abu Dhabi’s public health provider, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), across five of its facilities in the capital and Al Ain, as well as through a mobile clinic.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, chairman at Abu Dhabi emirate healthcare regulator, the Department of Health (DoH), was the first person to participate in the trial, followed by DoH acting undersecretary, Dr Jamal Al Kaabi.
Health officials earlier said those who had previously contracted COVID-19, as well as those with serious illnesses or immunocompromised status, would not be included in the vaccine trials.
Register for the vaccine trials on 4humanity.ae