opn 200909 uae covid
Illustrative image Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: The UAE is one of the first countries to recover from the pandemic by providing the necessary elements needed to return to normal life, the most important of which is the vaccine, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Speaking during the weekly media briefing, Nasser Al Zaabi, official spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Development, said that the UAE provided the vaccine via a national campaign targeting all age groups, making senior citizens and people of determination a priority. “This priority further extends to school students to ensure safe and effective vaccination for all,” he added.

He stressed that different sectors proved their resilience and preparedness in facing challenges and creating opportunities for progress by implementing strategic plans to contain all pandemic fallouts.

“As per the latest results from the recovery report, we found that 15 national entities linked to the community sectors, worked on providing 65 initiatives as part of its strategic goal of “promoting community recovery from the pandemic.” Al Zaabi noted.

He went on to say that the proactive approach adopted by the National COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Management and Governance Committee over the past period, showed evident outcomes across all sectors and on the community.

“The UAE achieved an increase in optimism regarding return to normal life that reached 54 per cent, more than the targeted 50 per cent. Social optimism reached 103 per cent according to an indicator on the percentage of community members who believe in their ability to meet essential needs, as we achieved 59 per cent of the targeted 60 per cent,” he underscored.

“According to the strategic indicator (optimism towards living conditions), we find that we achieved positive results in regard to community’s trust in the level of recovery in the UAE as events are at a 95 per cent capacity of the targeted 100 per cent,” Al Zaabi stated, adding that the sense of trust and safety reached 95 per cent in last August compared to 25 per cent in April 2020.

Speaking about the initiatives and measures taken by government in the COVID-19 pandemic recovery phase, Al Zaabi said that the percentage of optimism increased to 94 per cent in August 2021, compared to 34 per cent in April 2020.

“During this phase of the pandemic, we are conducting a survey as part of the recovery and return to normal life phase in the UAE. We are looking to reach outcomes and decisions that will strengthen the concept of recovery,” he further said.

He made it clear that the community has a vital role to play in combating any challenge. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we realized the importance of safeguarding community’s health and safety to reach safe recovery for all members of the community.

“In cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Prevention, a new center for COVID-19 testing and vaccination to school students, senior citizens, and people of determination was opened in MOCD’s customers’ happiness center in Ajman, to promote community’s safety and easy access,” Al Zaabi revealed.

He stressed that thousands of community members participated in 37 interactive workshops within 5 main themes; agriculture, cultural and entertainment, family, health and sports, and professional development, in addition to the toastmaster’s program concerning “presentation skills”. In person and virtual participation reached 150 per cent this year compared to last summer with 5,688 participants.

The spokesperson said that the second session of the Summer Social Platform entitled “Our Recovery Summer” was concluded. The session attracted 14,031 participants representing all different groups of the community from 6 to 60 years old.

The preparedness of the community sector and spirits are high to surpass the impacts of this pandemic, and our national achievements grow daily. The Community’s commitment aided the recovery journey, and your continued responsibility is essential.

He concluded his remarks saying that the UAE model’s success was evident through the combined government efforts to achieve national and communal goals.