On November 3, Sheikh Mohammed bin Raschid al-Maktum tweeted a picture of himself getting an injection.
The Vice President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wrote: “The future in Dubai is getting better and better.” At least as far as the corona vaccination campaign of the Gulf Monarchy is concerned, he should be right.
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The Emirates have already vaccinated around eleven out of 100 residents.
Germany, on the other hand, only has 0.64 vaccinated out of 100 people. Israel is in first place in the “World Vaccination List” at Oxford University (21 out of 100 inhabitants vaccinated).
Second place is occupied by the Emirates, third place with Bahrain, another Gulf monarchy.
There, an average of five out of 100 residents are vaccinated.
In Europe, the fastest countries Great Britain and Denmark do not even come in half.
Source: Getty;
Infographic WORLD
Why are the Gulf States so effective?
One reason is certainly their relatively small area and the fact that the population is concentrated in a few centers.
This makes it easier to distribute the vaccine.
The main factor, however, is the vaccine itself. While Europe and the USA have so far mainly relied on the “western” vaccines from Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna, the Emirates and Bahrain have ordered from China, and they did so very early on.
The UAE became the first state to approve Chinese Sinovac vaccine for emergency use by medical staff and government officials back in September.
Then, in early December, when most countries had not yet started vaccinating, the Emirates and Bahrain approved a second Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm.
This is "a significant vote of confidence by the Emirates' health authorities in the safety and effectiveness of this vaccine," wrote WAM, the state news agency of the United Arab Emirates.
How far this trust in the preparation extends is shown by the fact that the Emirates and Bahrain even took part in the clinical studies.
A total of four Chinese producers have been working on a Covid 19 vaccine - some with millions in funding from the state.
The problem: There are only a few corona cases in China - but the last test phase must be carried out in places with as many diseases as possible.
China therefore switched to other countries - including the Gulf States.
WAM reported that the Sinopharm vaccine had been tested on 31,000 volunteers and that there were no serious safety concerns.
The Emirates certified the Chinese product to be 86 percent effective.
The same value was found in Bahrain.
The monarchies did not disclose more information, for example on side effects.
There were also no transparent data or interim results of the studies from China, as is normally the case with drug approval processes.
The pharmaceutical company Sinopharm only announced that it was below the 86 percent measured in the Gulf States and only 79.34 percent.
Sinopharm is therefore less effective than Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna.
Compared to its western competitors, however, the Chinese vaccine has decisive advantages: In contrast to the vaccines, which are based on mRNA technology, it relies on the classic method of triggering an immune reaction by killing coronaviruses.
As a result, the Sinopharm vaccine does not have to be cooled to minus 70 degrees; temperatures of minus two to minus eight degrees are sufficient.
In addition, China can produce and supply supplies relatively quickly.
Source: dpa;
Infographic WORLD / Jörn Baumgarten
The Gulf monarchies do not reveal how much vaccine they have.
"His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has ordered that the vaccine be provided free of charge to all residents, and we strive to have enough to vaccinate everyone," says Bahrain only.
In addition to Sinopharm, Biontech / Pfizer are also vaccinated there.
Bahrain was the second country in the world to approve the vaccine from the German-American corporate cooperation.
In November, the island state initially had medical personnel vaccinated.
Since December each of the 1.5 million inhabitants, 679,000 of whom are foreigners, has been allowed to be vaccinated in one of the 27 centers and to choose which of the two preparations they want to be treated with.
Travel portals already attract with offers
The kingdom cites the forward-looking organization of the Corona taskforce and the broad public relations, with which the population was quickly mobilized, as reasons for its vaccination success.
The registration for vaccination is regulated via the "Be Aware" app, which manages the patient flow.
The app was developed for contact tracking.
Amnesty International criticized it for being "one of the most invasive Covid-19 tracking apps in the world" that disregarded residents' privacy.
In the United Arab Emirates, residents have been able to get vaccinated without an appointment since December 22nd.
There, too, the vaccination is free.
The Emirates do not proceed according to age group, but prioritize risk patients.
According to official figures, 47,000 of the total of nine million inhabitants, almost 90 percent of whom are migrant workers, are vaccinated every day.
Eight percent of the population has therefore already been treated.
Half of the residents are said to have been immunized by the end of March.
Sinopharm and Biontech / Pfizer are currently being vaccinated.
The Emirates are also participating in the third phase of the study of Russia's vaccine Sputnik-V with voluntary patients.
Those who have had both vaccinations, reports the “Khaleej Times” from Dubai, will be assigned a gold star or the letter “E” on their profile in the state tracking app “Al Hosn”, with which they enjoy privileges such as quarantine-free travel .
The tourism industry in the Emirates has been working on a major offensive for weeks.
Travel portals lure with special offers, masks and other hygiene rules cannot be seen on the glossy advertising photos of many organizers.
Life is almost like it was before the pandemic, say expats who live in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.