ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates has approved the use of a coronavirus vaccine for frontline workers following successful clinical trials in Abu Dhabi, the state news agency WAM reported on Monday. Making an announcement during a media briefing on coronavirus developments, the UAE Health Minister Abdulrahman Al Owais said that the ministry has authorized the emergency use of the vaccine, making it available to those first-line defense heroes, who are most at risk of catching the infection in order to protect them from any danger that they may be exposed to due to the nature of their work. Al-Owais confirmed that the results from 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. Studies related to the safety of vaccination were reviewed, and that this process is carried out under the strict supervision of medical teams throughout the study. The health authorities follow all procedures for controlling the quality, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine. The health minister stressed that this emergency use of the vaccine is fully and completely compatible with the regulations and laws that allow a faster review of licensing procedures. Al Owais confirmed that the UAE's leadership has taken an integrated set of wise decisions to deal with the pandemic since the beginning of its spread in the country and has made all efforts to support the health sector by providing all resources needed while supporting scientific progress to find effective and definitive solutions. This has made the UAE a world leader in research aimed at developing a safe and effective vaccine against coronavirus disease. He added that the spread of the pandemic around the world has caused great confusion and put health authorities in a difficult and testing challenge, as the greatest difficulty came from making crucial decisions that enable the health care system to deal with the new reality, enhance its ability to control and contain the virus and reduce deaths. Meanwhile, Dr Nawal Al-Kaabi, the chairperson of the UAE's National Clinical Committee for Coronavirus and the principal investigator of the third phase of clinical trials of the inactive vaccine to combat COVID-19, spoke in detail about the vaccine at the briefing. Dr. Al-Kaabi said that 31,000 people from 125 countries took part in the vaccine clinical trials over a period of six weeks, but the vaccine was tried successfully on 1,000 volunteers who suffer from chronic diseases. "The preliminary results are encouraging, however studies will continue. Side effects are simple and come as expected just like any other vaccine. No dangerous side effects or symptoms have been reported," she said. "The vaccine was tested on 1,000 volunteers suffering from chronic diseases, and no complications occurred to them," Dr. Al-Kaabi added.
