UAE may impose virus curbs on unvaccinated people, official says

Published April 21, 2021
A man receives a dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 28, 2020. — Reuters/File
A man receives a dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 28, 2020. — Reuters/File

The United Arab Emirates has warned it could impose restrictions on people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 as the region's business and tourism hub pushes its immunisation campaign.

The country of some nine million, which has widened the campaign to those aged 16 and above, has vaccinated about 65 per cent of the eligible population, the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA) said on Tuesday.

"Strict measures are being considered to restrict the movement of unvaccinated individuals and to implement preventive measures such as forbidding entry to some places and having access to some services," NCEMA spokesman Saif Al Dhaheri said.

"Your hesitation today is an obstacle to our goals, it puts your family, loved ones and community at risk," he added.

The Gulf Arab state on Tuesday recorded 1,903 new infections to bring its total to 500,860 cases with 1,559 deaths.

The UAE, where social distancing and mask-wearing in public are required, is among the countries with the world's fastest Covid-19 vaccination programmes.

Abu Dhabi will now offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in addition to China's Sinopharm shot, the emirate's health authority said in an update on Wednesday.

Dubai emirate has already been offering the Pfizer vaccine as well as the one made by AstraZeneca.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...