Covid-19: UAE vaccinations cross 1 million; DHA opens another Pfizer-BioNTech inoculation centre in Dubai

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) said that over a million Covid-19 vaccinations were administered in the UAE as of Saturday, January 9.

It said on Saturday that 78,793 people got a coronavirus vaccine over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of jabs to 1,020,349, at an average of 10.32 doses per 100 people.

The country aims to vaccinate 50 per cent of its population within the first quarter of 2021, health officials recently clarified.

To that end, different emirates in the UAE have taken steps to step ramp up efforts to vaccinate its residents.

Abu Dhabi launched a ‘Choose to Vaccinate’ campaign whereby all of its residents can receive a shot for free.

Read: Abu Dhabi launches free Covid-19 vaccination campaign

In Dubai meanwhile, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) announced the addition of a another centre which will offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the emirate.

Read: Covid-19: All you need to know about Dubai’s Pfizer vaccination campaign

Located at the Al Safa primary healthcare centre, it became the seventh facility to offer the vaccine for free to the public.

Dr. Farida Al Khaja, CEO of Clinical Support Services and Nursing Sector at the DHA and chairperson of the Covid-19 Vaccination Steering Committee said the centre was added to accommodate the large turnout for vaccinations and said that there was a provision to increase the number of centres based on the increasing demand for it.

The seven DHA facilities where the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is now available includes:

– Al Safa primary health care centre

– Zabeel primary health care centre

– Al Mizhar primary health care centre

– Nad Al Hamr primary health care centre

– Al Barsha primary health care centre

– Uptown Miriff medical fitness centre

– Hatta Hospital.

The DHA’s vaccination campaign is targeting four main categories. The first category includes people who are 60-years-old and above, people with chronic diseases and people of determination.

The second category includes frontline workers in both the public and private sectors. The third category is made up of vital-sector workers, while the fourth category will be open to all others who wish to be vaccinated.

Priority will be given to the first three categories, the health authority added that the vaccination will become available to the fourth category in the near future.

The UAE reported 2,998 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country since the start of the outbreak up to 227,702.