Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, began major inoculations in December after being vaccinated by Chinese company Sinopharm and US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
According to Health Officials, the UAE has already vaccinated over two million of the population at around 10 million – one of the highest in the world. On Saturday, the Dubai Health Authority said it would scale back on vaccines after Pfizer announced in mid-January a delay of up to a month due to work at their main plant in Belgium.
“DHA is working on a reorganization of the first dose of the Covid-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine,” he said on Twitter. “The manufacturer has announced an expansion of vaccine production capacity, which has had a temporary impact on several countries around the globe.” She said, however, that all those planning to take the second dose of the vaccine should still show up for their meetings.
While other tourist destinations are putting in place strict restrictions to control the pandemic, Dubai reopened to visitors in July, despite a sharp spike in issues. But the glitzy emirate went down on its heels last week and stopped unnecessary surgery in hospitals after a surgeon in Covid-19 diseases from the New Year.
On Saturday, the UAE recorded 3,566 Covid-19s, a new high for the 12th consecutive day. To date it has recorded more than 274,000 diseases, including 783 deaths.