The UAE approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 on an emergency basis.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention said on Thursday the approval was given after the country carried out successful clinical trials and assessments.
The approval supports the national efforts to fight the pandemic and protect children in this age group.
The UAE has provided over 11 million vaccine doses to citizens and residents, and the country aims to vaccinate all eligible adults by the end of 2021.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was recently cleared for use in adolescents between 12 and 15 in the US after a trial showed it was safe and 100 per cent effective.
In late March, the company embarked on a global study to test its vaccine on children aged six months to two years, two years to five years, and five years to 11 years.
The findings from phase one will help to decide the dosage level for later stages.
In phases two and three, the company will study the immune response in children, the tolerance level in each age group and possible side effects.
Data on the age group 5 to 11 is expected as early as this summer, the company said.
If the trials go well, young children could be vaccinated by the end of the year, BioNTech co-founder and chief medical officer Dr Ozlem Tureci said.
“We expect the data at the end of the summer or autumn of this year. We will then file it with the regulators and, depending on how fast they react, by the end of the year we might get approval to also immunise younger children,” she said.
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
On racial profiling at airports
Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
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