UAE Continues To Lead In Global Rankings For COVID-19 Vaccination Rates: UAE Government Media Briefing

Dr. Saif Al Dhaheri, the official spokesperson for the National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA), said that the UAE continues to lead in global rankings for COVID-19 vaccination rates in a new evidence of the resilience of its medical sector and ability to efficiently respond to the pandemic and ensure public health and safety.

He made the statements during the UAE Government Media Briefing on the pandemic today, where he noted that 95.68 % of the UAE people took the vaccine first dose and 85.52 % received the second dose.

Al Dhaheri highlighted the Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking where the UAE has advanced nine ranks as compared to August, noting that the country now ranks sixth globally and first regionally.

“The UAE has addressed the COVID-19 according to a proactive strategy based on internationally approved indicators and research studies to ensure a phased return to the new normal,” he added.

Al Dhaheri commended the role played by all state departments for their cooperation and contributions to the positive results achieved today. He also lauded the public awareness and compliance with all preventive and precautionary measures.

“We’re today reaping the fruits of these efforts made at the country level when we see this remarkable drop in Covid daily infections,” he explained.

“As His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, preached the good news to us, we have already overcome the toughest part of the challenge and that we have to maintain the gains made in addressing this crisis over the past period by continuing to comply with the precautionary measures and abide by all health and safety protocols under all circumstances until we secure full recovery,” he added.

He underlined the necessity of maintaining full collaboration between all parties concerned to ensure a phased return to the new normal while continuing to maintain the health habits we have developed during the pandemic period which, he affirmed, have contributed to reducing the number of infections and boost recovery rates.

“This crisis has proved that the precautionary measures taken, in addition to the vaccination campaign, have played a fundamental role in protecting all of us and contributed to ensuring public health and recovery. Therefore, it’s quite important to continue to adopt healthy practices and habits, including mask wearing and maintaining physical distancing, while attending social occasions in order to protect ourselves against various types of viruses. This is in addition to ensuring regular medical checkups and constant sanitization.”

He urged the public to continue to contribute to the efforts made at the country level by complying with the precautionary measures in place, stressing that the danger of infection is still there and that the peril is still facing the world.

Al Dhaheri that that all the state departments concerned with COVID-19 are currently engaged in evaluating the outcome and following up the updates of the pandemic.

“Based on these findings, precautionary measures will continue to be announced to ensure public health and safety,” he added.

Al Dhaheri indicated that during the last period, the focus has been laid on maintaining a strategic balance among all country’s vital sectors to reach targeted recovery goals.

He added that all national plans and strategies were carefully designed to achieve the aspired results.

He underlined the important role played by the community to foster this strategic balance.

“It is not just the government entities that have earned the leadership’s trust, but also the UAE society, who have shown high levels of awareness and commitment to the new normal, with new habits and healthy practices we adopt under the pandemic.”

Al Dhaheri noted that the new practices provide tremendous support to the government efforts to continue its achievements.

“The transparency and integrity of the official information shared during the last two years, have boosted public trust in the measures taken and the decisions made. We have gone through exceptional times, but together, we’ve weathered the crisis, thanks to these strategies,” said Al Dhaheri.

“We appreciate your support to sustaining the country’s health, safety and economic resilience.”