UAE VACCINATES MORE THAN 50,000 PEOPLE IN ONE DAY
▶ The Emirates also sets screening record after holidays and as travellers seek tests
The UAE vaccinated more than 50,000 people against Covid-19 in a single day as it stepped up its campaign to protect the public from the pandemic.
In the space of 24 hours, 53,859 inoculations were administered across the country, officials said on Friday.
The authorities said 941,556 doses had been given so far across the nation.
Yesterday, the National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority said 9.5 vaccine doses had been delivered for every 100 people, the highest figure in the world after Israel.
The vaccine numbers were announced as the UAE reported 2,998 new cases yesterday, the most since the outbreak began.
It was the third day in a row that the number of new cases was above 2,900, as mass testing continued after the holidays.
Five deaths were reported, taking the toll to 702, while 2,264 people recovered.
The country has recorded 227,702 cases and 203,660 recoveries.
For three days in a row, more than 160,000 people were tested, with yesterday’s 168,770 a record. On Friday, 2,950 new cases were recorded, on Thursday, 2,988 and on Wednesday, 2,067.
Some tourists in the UAE, including from the UK, have found that testing rules have changed since they arrived. They must now get tested before they fly home.
Tourists and residents who are due to fly in the coming days were urged to get tested well in advance.
NMC Health, one of the country’s biggest private healthcare operators, said it had seen a surge in demand for PCR nasal swab tests.
“The increase in tests can also be attributed to the mandatory travel requirement,” a spokesman said.
He said laboratory staff were working around the clock to ensure results could still be expected 12 to 18 hours after the test was taken.
Mediclinic yesterday told patients it could take up to 48 hours to process results because of increased demand.
Previously, its clinics could deliver results in under 12 hours. Aster Hospitals said it was taking 24 to 36 hours to report results.
Earlier yesterday, Dubai opened a seventh vaccine clinic, at Al Safa Primary Healthcare Centre. It will deliver inoculations to people over the age of 60 and those who have underlying health conditions.
Medics in the UAE can use regular Covid-19 nasal swab tests to detect the more contagious variant first found in the UK.
The B117 strain was identified in Kent, south-east England, in September and has now been found in more than 30 countries.
Although it does not cause more severe symptoms, studies show the variant is up to 74 per cent more transmissible, particularly among children.
Scientists in the Emirates said polymerase chain reaction tests were sufficient to detect infection, even if they could not be used to identify specific strains of the virus.
“What we are doing in our lab will detect the presence of this mutated virus using existing PCR sampling,” said Mohamed Rafi, laboratory manager at Bareen International Hospital in Mohamed bin Zayed City.
“We contacted the manufacturer of our reagent as they found that the new strain of Covid-19 seen in the UK can also be detected.
“As the form of testing we are using is qualitative, we can only determine either a positive or negative result, not if the person has been infected with the mutated form of the virus.
“But we will not miss the patient who is carrying the new strain. They will still record a positive test result. That is important.”
Bareen International Hospital operates under the umbrella of NMC Healthcare, which uses thousands of PCR test kits made by South Korean manufacturer Seegene.
Although the B117 strain does not appear to be any more dangerous, healthcare professionals and epidemiologists are concerned about how much more easily it is transmitted.
“It is common for viruses to mutate,” said Dr Amaka Uzu, a consultant of family medicine at Bareen International Hospital.
“My understanding with the new strain is that it appears to be more contagious and spreads quickly.”
Tight restrictions have been imposed across the UK, but cases continue to climb with up to 60,000 new infections reported each day.
Scientists said the variant was linked to a higher load of infectious particles.
But many experts are uncertain why that does not result in more severe illness, as would normally be expected.
Adam Kucharski, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said more transmissible strains of the virus posed a bigger problem for health services.
He said the current rate of infection meant that if the virus were to spread among 10,000 people then health authorities could expect 129 people to die after a month.
If the fatality risk increased by 50 per cent there would be 193 deaths, he said.
But if the transmission rate increased by 50 per cent then many more people would become infected, increasing the death toll to 978.
“The key message is that an increase in something that grows exponentially, ie: transmission, can have far more of an effect than the same proportional increase in something that just scales an outcome, ie severity,” he said on Twitter.
A record 2,998 new cases were recorded in the UAE yesterday, increasing the number of infections since the pandemic began to 227,702. The new cases were detected after another 168,770 tests were carried out
Another 2,264 recoveries were reported yesterday.
Last week, health authorities said a “limited number” of cases of the B117 variant were detected.
“We are worried about this new strain of the virus as we do not know what will come out of it,” Dr Uzu said.
“It appears it is more contagious, so we would encourage people to be extra careful and continue to take all the necessary precautions, at least until we have more information on this mutated virus.
“It is good that fatality rates do not seem to be increasing in areas where it is present, but we know it is quite infectious. The severity is not much of a concern at the moment.”