Dubai’s health authorities are on track to administer COVID-19 vaccination to 100% of its adult population by the fourth quarter of 2021, said Dr. Amer Sharif, Head of Dubai’s COVID-19 Command and Control Centre.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV in an interview broadcast today, Dr. Sharif said: “We have seen a great response to our vaccination campaign from the Dubai community, and I would like to thank them for their sense of responsibility.”

The Head of the COVID-19 Command and Control Centre said Dubai also has a shorter-term target of vaccinating 50% of its “population of eligible adults” by the end of March 2021. “We are one of the world’s leading countries to ramp up vaccination,” he noted.

Dubai has started a massive free vaccination campaign, with more than 120 vaccination centres set up. Several more will be established in the coming weeks. The emirate currently offers the Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, all three of which have been approved by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention. “Our health authorities are further monitoring more vaccines for approval,” Dr. Sharif noted.

Dubai is set to receive new supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, following discussions with the manufacturer’s representatives in the region, he added. “We expect 100% vaccination of Dubai’s eligible adult population by the fourth quarter of 2021.”

Speaking about Dubai’s robust preparedness for dealing with any COVID-19 scenario, Dr Sharif said: “We have been very agile in our ability to surge capacity in our healthcare system, through very successful public-private sector partnerships. We are able to cater to all COVID-19 patients who require treatment in Dubai.”

Dubai’s scientific data-based strategic planning and robust healthcare infrastructure ensure it can deal with the most challenging COVID-19 scenarios. Effective partnerships have been forged between the public and private healthcare sectors to scale up reserve bed capacity whenever the need arises.

Dubai has created a meticulous strategy to combat the current COVID-19 situation with measures optimised to protect both lives and livelihoods. “We have looked at the different options when it comes to full or partial lockdown. Our strategy is to strike a balance between the safety of our people and their social wellbeing and economic sustainability,” he stressed.