Dubai aims to distribute two billion COVID-19 vaccines globally

Dubai isn’t just aiding the fight against coronavirus close to home, the emirate is also intent on helping around the global.

A new alliance has been launched in order to help distribute COVID-19 vaccines around the world.

Known as the ‘Dubai Vaccines Logistics Alliance’, which has been launched under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, the new initiative aims to distribute two 2billion doses vaccines around the globe in 2021.

The initiative will be carried out in partnership with Emirates SkyCargo, Dubai Airports, DP World and IHC UAE.

Under the directives of @HHShkMohd, #Dubai forms Vaccine Logistics Alliance to expedite global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines through the emirate to developing countrieshttps://t.co/vlgdSBMsZK pic.twitter.com/dK3l0RXHhC

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) January 31, 2021

In a statement, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group, said, “Each alliance partner brings to the table a specific and complementary set of strengths and capabilities in vaccine distribution, allowing us to build a 360-degree solution that harnesses the combined logistical and infrastructural advantages of Dubai as a hub.

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“Together, we are able to store a large volume of vaccine doses at a time and bring in and distribute vaccines to any point around the world within 48 hours.”

The UAE’s vaccine aim

Closer to home, with the national vaccination programme well underway in the UAE, the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) announced its intentions to vaccinate the whole population.

“The UAE is among the first countries in the world that aims to provide the vaccine to all of its population, as part of its efforts to achieve the immunity generated by vaccination, which will help reduce the cases number, control the virus & reduce its spread,” the authority said in a statement last week.

With the UAE’s vaccine administration rate being the second highest globally after Israel, the aim is to reduce the number of cases in the country by making it easily available to all the residents in order to achieve herd immunity as part of its efforts with the vaccines being provided, free of cost at the more than 205 centres across the country.

The three vaccines currently available in the UAE include Chinese Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech and Russia’s Sputnik vaccines.

With the intent of providing vaccines for the whole population, the UAE aims to have 50 per cent of the population vaccinated by the end of March.