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An antiviral drug used to treat Covid-19 has proven to be very effective at preventing deaths and hospital admissions among coronavirus patients.
Between 30 June and 13 July, 6,175 patients in the UAE received sotrovimab.
The drug was 100 per cent successful in preventing deaths and 99 per cent effective in stopping admissions to intensive care, authorities said.
Close to 97 per cent of recipients fully recovered within 14 days, which was in line with previous findings.
The results were announced on Saturday by the Ministry of Health and Prevention, in collaboration with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health and Dubai Health Authority.
The MoHAP has approved the use of Sotrovimab, produced by global biopharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). It has also been approved for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration.
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Abu Dhabi residents are inoculated at the screening and vaccine centre on the Corniche. A nationwide testing and inoculation campaign is credited with driving down cases. All photos: Victor Besa / The National -
Staff and nurses from the Abu Dhabi public hospital group Seha urged the public to protect themselves from Covid-19 by signing up to be vaccinated. -
Motorists queue for PCR tests at Seha's testing and vaccination centre on Abu Dhabi's Corniche. -
Mass testing and a successful vaccination campaign has helped the UAE to tackle the pandemic. -
Drivers wait at a centre that provides both PCR nasal swab tests and coronavirus vaccine doses. -
Shenaz Abdul Salam, 13, gives a thumbs up as he waits to receive his first vaccine dose. -
A staff nurse fills in a vaccination form for a driver at the Corniche centre. -
Mariam Al Badi, an Emirati nurse working at Seha's drive-through vaccine centre, has urged everyone to get inoculated against Covid-19. -
Ms Al Badi goes through the vaccination process with a driver. -
Cars queue at the drive-through testing and vaccination centre on Abu Dhabi's Corniche. -
More than 80 per cent of the UAE population has been vaccinated and the government is urging those who have not to sign up. -
An Abu Dhabi resident gives the thumbs up after signing up for vaccination. -
Authorities have made the vaccines free for everyone. -
A medical worker checks papers as Abu Dhabi residents sign up for the Covid-19 vaccine. -
The drive-through Covid-19 testing and inoculation centre has proved popular with Abu Dhabi residents.
About 52 per cent of patients were aged 50 or above and almost all recipients had a comorbidity such as obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease or diabetes.
The UAE was one of the first countries in the world to receive sotrovimab.
The shipment, in mid-June, came after an agreement between the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, Rafed – a group purchasing organisation – GSK and Etihad Cargo.
A separate study conducted by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi found eight per cent of patients suffered from long Covid.
Feeling tired was the most commonly experienced after-effect.
