No one who received Sinopharm vaccine doses has died of COVID-19 in Abu Dhabi: Study
No one has died from COVID-19-related causes in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates after receiving all “required” doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, according to the Abu Dhabi Public Health center.
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The emirate’s public health body conducted a study that it says shows the Sinopharm vaccine is 93 percent effective in reducing hospitalization for COVID-19, and 95 percent for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) visits.
No new figures on the vaccine’s efficacy in preventing infection were released, but the Abu Dhabi Media Office said the study showed a “significant decrease in the rate of COVID-19 infection after receiving a second vaccine dose”.
The UAE’s health ministry said in December the vaccine is 86 percent effective in preventing infection. Sinopharm itself has said the vaccine is 79 percent effective, while a Brazilian study put the number as low as 50.4 percent.
Sinopharm’s vaccine is the most widely-used in the UAE – a country that has employed one of the fastest and most wide-ranging inoculation programs worldwide.
The UAE’s vaccination rollout is linked to Sinopharm to such an extent that the vaccine will now be produced in both Abu Dhabi and the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah.
Abu Dhabi Public Health center’s study also showed results echoing those of other studies conducted around the world. It showed that immunity is not guaranteed after infection, for example, and that COVID-19 can lead to long-term health issues.
The study also showed that the risk of contracting COVID-19 increases as the virus mutates, and that the chances of the virus mutating increase the more it spreads, Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
With Reuters
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