Lebanon received its first batch of Covid-19 vaccines on Saturday afternoon.
A plane carrying 28,500 Pfizer-BioNTech shots landed in Beirut, with nationwide inoculations set to begin on Sunday.
"Starting vaccinations is very important, especially as we have a lot of daily cases and new deaths every day," Assem Araji, head of the Public Health Parliament Committee, told The National.
“The ICUs in Lebanon are full of Covid-19 patients in critical condition.”
Lebanon has been battling a surge in Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the year after a holiday period with nearly no restrictions.
The number of deaths in January alone surpassed those for the whole of 2020.
A strict 25-day lockdown was imposed last month and the country is now slowly opening up.
Experts and government officials believe the vaccination campaign will help to bring coronavirus cases down and save lives, although the take-up is low.
Fewer than half a million people have signed up for the vaccine so far in a country of about six million people. For the vaccine to have a nationwide effect, a large part of the population must get inoculated.
"I am not worried about this," Mr Araji told The National. "Once we begin inoculations, people will feel more comfortable as they see there are no major side effects to the vaccine and they will ask for it."
Lebanese Public Health Minister Hamad Hassan was at the airport when the first batch of vaccines arrived.
He said he hoped to persuade “the Prime Minister” to have the shot on Sunday to encourage Lebanese to be immunised.
He did not specify whether he was referring to prime minister-designate Saad Hariri or caretaker prime minister Hassan Diab.
“We are trying to convince one prominent politician to participate tomorrow because it will have a positive effect nationwide,” Mr Hassan said.
He faced a backlash earlier this year after he said the president, the speaker and the prime minister would be the first to have the coronavirus shot when it arrived in Lebanon.
The country’s political class has come under fire since the onset of a mass protest movement in October 2019.
The ongoing economic crisis, a deadly explosion at the Beirut port last year and the recent surge in Covid-19 cases compounded popular distrust of the Lebanese leadership.
Medical experts anticipate inoculation will have a positive outcome on at least one of Lebanon’s crises.
Dr Eid Azar, an infectious disease specialist and chief of staff at Beirut’s Saint-Georges Hospital aims to vaccinate 700 people there daily beginning tomorrow.
"Vaccines are the biggest hope we have, but I don't expect a magic effect," he told The National.
Mass inoculation will tamper the intensity of the disease and lower the number of cases, Mr Azar says, but the effects will take “at least a couple of months” to manifest.
"We are hoping to vaccinate as many people as we can."
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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