The COVID-19 cases has breached the 100 million mark globally, with new variants that spread faster than the original strain. Despite this, the UAE comes prepared with its two-pronged approach of implementing strict preventive measures and a massive vaccination campaign—wherein the country leads the world in terms of the number of administered doses with a rate of 27 out of 100 people.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has expressed optimism that the UAE will rise through the pandemic with the nation’s full compliance and cooperation.

“We stressed that we will continue our efforts and the journey of recovery shall not stop. Health protection will remain our priority, and our community will overcome this year enthusiastically towards the future,” said His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

Meanwhile, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, stated that the massive vaccination campaign, which has now reached 2.7 million administered doses as of press time, will help the country’s COVID-19 numbers to drop in the coming days.

“We hope that with vaccinations picking up pace, we will reach the point of full recovery in the shortest possible time,” said His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.

Reinforcing social distancing

One of the notable decisions that Dubai has implemented was to reinstate restrictions on public gatherings. From a maximum of 30 guests before, Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management has mandated a maximum of only 10 people, limited to first-degree relatives only for gatherings, including weddings, social events, and private parties. This rule applies whether the event is held at a hotel or at home, beginning January 27.

In addition, social distancing measures have also been expanded from 2 meters to 3 meters at restaurants, cafes, fitness centres and gyms. New guidelines also specify that the maximum number of people in one table have been reduced from ten people to only seven individuals at restaurants, and four at cafes.

Authorities have also noticed an increase in the number of violations of precautionary measures at public spaces, particularly at entertainment and leisure areas, with 200 violations reported out of 3,100 inspections, with the majority of warnings pertaining to leniency of these establishments when it comes to social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines. This led authorities to put selected entertainment activities on hold until further notice, including (but not limited to) live bands, performers, and DJs at restaurants and beach clubs, and other entertainment activities.

Individuals have also rescheduled their elective therapeutic, as these were recently put on hold by the Dubai Health Authority until February 19. These include neurosurgical procedures, fractures and corrective orthopaedic procedures, cardiological and radiological interventions, stone and urological stent removals, and other urgent procedures in general surgery, ophthalmology, paediatrics, obstetrics, gynaecology and other specialties.

Vaccination drive underway

Merely one month after the UAE began its “Choose to Vaccinate” campaign, it has already reached between 60,000 to 80,000 doses administered per day, with a target to vaccinate up to 70 percent of the total population of the whole UAE by the end of December 2021.

Dr. Farida Al Khaja, CEO of Clinical Support Services and Nursing Sector, chairperson of the COVID-19 Vaccination Steering Committee at the DHA, explained that the roadmap specifies that the first phase, which includes priority groups such as senior citizens and people with chronic diseases, are expected to last until March 2021. In Dubai, its full blown vaccination campaign for the general public will begin by April 2021.

With a massive response from residents who wish to get vaccinated, the Dubai Health Authority is working on rescheduling the 1st dose of the COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, following the announcement of the expansion of the vaccine production capacity.

However, authorities have assured individuals who already got their first dose that their second dose schedule remains in place, and that they should adhere to their appointment schedule and reach their COVID-19 vaccination centre on time.