Latest: Which countries are vaccinating young children against Covid-19?
Pupils in the UAE will have a 30-day grace period to be inoculated against Covid-19 when schools reopen, before weekly PCR testing becomes mandatory for unvaccinated children over 12.
After the grace period, vaccinated pupils over 12 will be tested every month, as will schoolchildren between 3 and 12 who have not been inoculated.
It is part of amended Covid-19 regulations designed to ensure that wherever possible, pupils can have in-person lessons when the school year begins on August 29.
Saliva tests, rather than PCR swabs, have been used on younger children in recent months.
Dubai's private schools, which have their own school regulator, are not thought to be affected by the decision.
It is very important we prepare all pupils to attend classes face to face to ensure their education
Dr Farida Al Hosani
At a briefing on Sunday, Dr Farida Al Hosani, the federal government's health spokeswoman, urged “all children aged 3 to 17 to get the vaccine”.
She advised parents to arrange for their children to get vaccinated in the coming weeks.
“It is very important we prepare all pupils to attend classes face to face to ensure their education,” she said.
Despite that, Dr Al Hosani said distance learning remains an option for “all vaccinated and unvaccinated pupils".
The 30-day grace period would give families until the end of September for their children to get both shots. During that time, all unvaccinated pupils will undergo a test every two weeks.
China's Sinopharm vaccine was approved for use in children aged 3 to 17 in early August, following a trial that involved 900 young people in Abu Dhabi.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is available for over 12s.
Al Hosn app for school pupils
The National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority detailed the latest developments on Twitter on Sunday.
Parents were asked to download the Al Hosn testing app for their children to ensure schools can see proof of vaccination and regular testing.
The app has become central to Abu Dhabi's vaccine and testing regime, including the latest rules introduced on August 20, and has seen some use in airports and bars and clubs in other emirates.
Parents will be required to print out and present PCR and vaccination certificates, in addition to downloading the app.
Dr Al Hosani said a task force of inspectors will monitor the back-to-school process and testing and vaccine requirements. Schools are required to keep social distancing of one metre and to have an isolation room for suspected cases.
She further said 86 per cent of teachers were now vaccinated and that the government was “working to reach 100 per cent very soon”. About 73 per cent of the overall population is vaccinated, the most recent figures show.
Children and teachers will be required to sign a form stating that have not knowingly been in recent contact with someone with the virus.
Masks must to be worn in all public places, including classrooms and should only be removed when eating.
She thanked schools across the country and said staff and teachers were “heroes” who had ensured children had not fallen behind in the past 18 months.
“The experience of distance learning proved to be successful despite the pandemic,” she said.
“We extend our deepest thanks for all of the heroes working on the front lines of education ... and start the new academic year by stressing the importance of all of the achievements in the past year.”
In September 2020, schools in most of the emirates reopened. But many returned to distance learning, or a hybrid model, at various times throughout the year as individual cases were detected.
At the end of the term 2021, for example, about half of pupils in Dubai were back in class, the authorities said, with the remainder learning from home.
Following a flurry of vaccinations among young people late last term, schools hope the vast majority will return to face-to-face learning once again soon.
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
The Farewell
Director: Lulu Wang
Stars: Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen, Diana Lin, Tzi Ma
Four stars
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYango%20Deli%20Tech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELaunch%20year%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERetail%20SaaS%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESelf%20funded%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A