Dubai Is Offering the Pfizer Vaccine to Residents

Paramedics collect swab samples at a coronavirus drive-through screening center by Dubai Health Authority at Al Nasr Club in Dubai. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
Paramedics collect swab samples at a coronavirus drive-through screening center by Dubai Health Authority at Al Nasr Club in Dubai. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
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Dubai Is Offering the Pfizer Vaccine to Residents

Paramedics collect swab samples at a coronavirus drive-through screening center by Dubai Health Authority at Al Nasr Club in Dubai. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
Paramedics collect swab samples at a coronavirus drive-through screening center by Dubai Health Authority at Al Nasr Club in Dubai. Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News

The Dubai Health Authority (DHA), in coordination with Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management and the COVID-19 Command and Control Centre, announced that it has commenced its COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

The campaign will see the DHA providing the Pfizer- BioNTech vaccination, which has recently been approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration and registered by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention.

The first phase of the rollout will see four main groups targeted, with the first group including Emiratis and residents aged 60 and older, people with chronic health conditions, and the people of determination.

The second group is frontline health workers, the third is other essential workers, and the fourth is members of the general public who want to be vaccinated.

Among the first individuals to receive the vaccine was an 84-year-old senior citizen.

The DHA emphasized that providing a COVID-19 vaccine is part of the Dubai government’s keenness to protect the public from risks of infection, which will contribute to global efforts to overcome the pandemic.

The Authority also stressed that the vaccination drive is an important step in further strengthening Dubai’s integrated healthcare system and its comprehensive strategy to counter COVID-19.

The DHA has taken vital proactive steps such as increasing the COVID-19 PCR testing capacity to more than 80,000 tests per day.

In this context, another 1,246 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the UAE, pushing the total number of COVID-19 infections to 197,124, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced Wednesday.

According to the ministry, the number of recoveries has gone up to 172,984 after 1,533 COVID-10 patients received the all-clear. The UAE’s COVID-19 death toll also rose to 645 as three more patients succumbed to the deadly virus.



Kuwait Includes 8 Lebanese Hospitals on 'Terror' List

Kuwait indicated that it had listed eight hospitals in Lebanon as part of regulations related to "combating terrorism.” KUNA
Kuwait indicated that it had listed eight hospitals in Lebanon as part of regulations related to "combating terrorism.” KUNA
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Kuwait Includes 8 Lebanese Hospitals on 'Terror' List

Kuwait indicated that it had listed eight hospitals in Lebanon as part of regulations related to "combating terrorism.” KUNA
Kuwait indicated that it had listed eight hospitals in Lebanon as part of regulations related to "combating terrorism.” KUNA

Kuwait's foreign ministry issued on Sunday a circular indicating that it had listed eight hospitals in Lebanon as part of regulations related to "combating terrorism.”

Lebanon's health ministry expressed surprise and said it would seek clarification.

It said it received the Kuwaiti statement "with great surprise", adding it had not been provided with "any information or notification from any Kuwaiti entity about this matter.”

"The hospitals mentioned in the statement are registered with the syndicate of private hospitals in Lebanon and carry out their role in providing treatment and health services to all Lebanese without exception," the ministry statement said.

It called the facilities "an essential part of the Lebanese health system,” and said it would contact the relevant authorities to request clarification and "protect Lebanon's health system.”

It noted that "Kuwait has numerous joint projects with the ministry... and has been among the most prominent countries that have stood by the health system during the successive crises that Lebanon has faced.”

The latest move was "unprecedented and inconsistent" with the Gulf country's usual approach, it added.


Saudi and Guatemalan FMs Discuss Bilateral Ties

The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs met on Sunday with his Guatemalan counterpart in Riyadh. SPA
The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs met on Sunday with his Guatemalan counterpart in Riyadh. SPA
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Saudi and Guatemalan FMs Discuss Bilateral Ties

The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs met on Sunday with his Guatemalan counterpart in Riyadh. SPA
The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs met on Sunday with his Guatemalan counterpart in Riyadh. SPA

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah met on Sunday with his Guatemalan counterpart Carlos Ramiro Martínez in Riyadh.

During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations and discussed developments of mutual interest.


Faisal bin Farhan, Barrack Discuss Developments in Syria

The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince met on Sunday with the US Special Envoy for Syria in Riyadh.(SPA)
The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince met on Sunday with the US Special Envoy for Syria in Riyadh.(SPA)
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Faisal bin Farhan, Barrack Discuss Developments in Syria

The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince met on Sunday with the US Special Envoy for Syria in Riyadh.(SPA)
The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince met on Sunday with the US Special Envoy for Syria in Riyadh.(SPA)

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah met on Sunday with US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack in Riyadh.

During the meeting, they reviewed developments in Syria.