The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has approved Moderna Inc's Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, the fifth vaccine to receive such approval by the Gulf Arab state, the health ministry has said in a statement to state news agency Emirates News Agency.

According to a Reuters report, the UAE — the region's tourism, trade and business hub — has had one of the world's fastest vaccination campaigns but daily coronavirus cases have remained close to 2,000, though below a peak near 4,000 in February.

As much as 73.8 per cent of the UAE's population has received one vaccine dose while 63.7 per cent are fully vaccinated, the health ministry said in a Twitter post on Saturday.