Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed, Chairman of Abu Dhabi's Department of Health, participates in clinical trials for the Covid-19 vaccine. Abu Dhabi Government Media Office
Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed, Chairman of Abu Dhabi's Department of Health, participates in clinical trials for the Covid-19 vaccine. Abu Dhabi Government Media Office
Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed, Chairman of Abu Dhabi's Department of Health, participates in clinical trials for the Covid-19 vaccine. Abu Dhabi Government Media Office
We are on the cusp of an era of mass Covid-19 inoculation. The deployment of vaccines by drug makers Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sinopharm and Gamaleya Centre promises to put the pandemic behind us. Justifiably, there is plenty of optimism about a return to a more normal arc of life.
A select number of people in the UAE have taken the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine, which has been approved for limited – or emergency – use, following the phase 3 trials of the drug that were carried out in the country. These are early days in the UAE's national Covid-19 vaccine programme. This effort will be ramped up over the coming weeks and months as the country aims to protect as many of us as possible while helping people move past the crisis. The expectation is that many more nations will begin their immunisation programmes soon.
Those who are on the Sinopharm vaccine programme have to take two doses within a month. And a month thereafter, their bodies will hopefully have developed enough antibodies to give them some level of protection from the coronavirus.
But the idea of immunity at a global level feels theoretical. While many thousands of people in the UAE have already taken part in the national vaccine programme, as well as in the earlier trials, there are not yet enough who have taken the vaccine to produce "herd immunity", which is needed to ensure that we have the coronavirus under control. I am not sure that point will be reached for some time, both at home and abroad.
It is important to understand that not everybody feels entirely comfortable taking the vaccine right away all over the world. There is much hesitancy particularly regarding taking any Covid-19 vaccine, which has been quickly developed compared to previous inoculations. This hesitancy is evident from a wide range of responses I have garnered during conversations. Some have demonstrated a curiosity, while others have been alarmist. Most responses have been somewhere in between, with some among them making it clear that they do not judge the choices made by others while admitting they do not themselves have the desire to take a vaccine.
That vaccine hesitancy is real should not be news to anyone. It has, after all, been an issue since well before the pandemic. For at least a decade, health authorities around the world have tried to grapple with this growing trend. Every country and every strata of society in those countries have been affected to differing degrees by this phenomenon. It cannot just be blamed on anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theories, rather the hesitancy about taking vaccines is often related to issues such as complacency, lack of convenience or lack of confidence.
The third factor is arguably the most pressing one, because only a minority are complacent about the risks of this disease and how it is impacting our lives as compared to other illnesses that we have had a vaccine for, for some time. Likewise, a lack of convenience should not be a factor, especially in the future, with governments around the world hard at work to make it as easy as possible for the public to receive the vaccine should they want to.
According to research conducted by the World Health Organisation, all three factors are linked, and being weak on tackling any one of them on the part of the public will undermine the efforts to vaccinate the largest number of people.
How to build that confidence then? Consistent and clear communication is key, obviously, as it is the foundation upon which trust is built. Even after getting the messaging right, which is not at all easy, it needs time to have an effect. There is no short cut to a sustained and long-term information campaign that will convince people that they can take a vaccine safely. It may take years and there is the worry of the continuing consequences to our well-being if the pandemic drags on that long.
There has been some discussion, in Australia, the UK and elsewhere, of requiring people to show inoculation certificates in order to fly on planes or go to the cinema. However, trying to compel people to take a vaccine won't achieve the objective of mass inoculation. Human psychology would fight against the idea.
Countries will, of course, get to the point of herd immunity eventually. Of that there is no doubt. The question is only how long it will take. In the meantime, to smoothen the process, we must find new reserves of patience and empathy to help get the job – and the jab – done.
Mustafa Alrawi is an assistant editor-in-chief at The National
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
The Gandhi Murder
71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
7 - million dollars, the film's budget
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate
