Manama: The UAE granted an emergency approval for a COVID-19 vaccine for healthcare workers on Monday, six weeks after its human trials in the country.
Currently, a phase third testing of coronavirus inactivated vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm is progressing in the UAE. The clinical trials began in July in association with Abu Dhabi-based G42 Healthcare and the Abu Dhabi government.
The vaccine will be available for the first line of defense heroes who are the highest risk of catching the virus, Health Minister Abdulrahman Al-Owais said in a tweet.
Emergency use of the vaccine, which is still being tested, was granted after a set criteria and after it had been tested on 31,000 volunteers, minister said.
The final stages of the third phase trials showed that the vaccine is safe, effective and resulted in a strong response through the generation of antibodies against the virus, he disclosed.
Al-Owais said these steps are taken with the goal of preserving the lives of millions of people and providing health care for the infected.
The vaccine is one of 26 in the world that have reached the human trials stage.
Around 31,000 volunteers, including 125 nationalities, had taken part in the clinical trials in the UAE so far, said Dr. Nawal Al-Kaabi, head of the National Clinical Committee for Coronavirus.
Mild and expected side effects have been reported but there have been no severe side effects, he added. He said that a thousand people suffering from chronic diseases who took part saw no complications.
The move comes amid mounting concern that Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly again, after restrictions were eased. The country has been witnessing a spike in new virus infections, which reported 1,007 cases on Saturday, its highest since the start of the pandemic. There were 777 new cases on Monday alone. The country has registered a total of 80,266 cases so far with 399 fatalities.
According to Reuters, Sinopharm secured approval for the trial in late June. The experimental vaccine passed Phases I and II of clinical trials with 100% of volunteers generating antibodies after two doses in 28 days, an Abu Dhabi government statement said in July.
Russia in August became the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine, after less than two months of human testing.
