Coronavirus: UAE records 2,154 new cases and two deaths

Officials say the UAE's vaccine drive has reached more than 80 per cent of the eligible population

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  Thousands of children have already received their first shot after the government gave the go-ahead for 12-15-year-olds.

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  A medic speaks to a girl and her mother ahead of her vaccination.

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  Youngsters aged 12 to 15 receive the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

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  A number of countries have approved the Pfizer shots for young teens. It came after 16 to 18-year-olds received the go-ahead.

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  Schools told The National that thousands of pupils were inoculated in the first week the jab was introduced this year.

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  Schools told The National that thousands were inoculated in the first week

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  The move should cut coronavirus cases in school and allow classes to get back on track.

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  Most schools are back to relatively normal lessons, but the virus has caused isolated closures in some areas.

The UAE recorded 2,154 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday after carrying out 218,977 further tests.

The country's total number of infections since the pandemic began stands at 574,958.

Another 2,110 people beat the virus, increasing the number of recoveries to 554,589.

The death toll reached 1,686 after two people died in the past 24 hours.

There are 18,683 active cases of coronavirus in the country.

Officials announced this week that the UAE's vaccine drive has reached more than 80 per cent of the eligible population.

The weekly Covid-19 briefing heard how the country had crossed the crucial threshold.

Almost 93 per cent of the population aged over 60 – who are more vulnerable to the virus – have been inoculated.

The briefing also heard that education authorities have implemented a number of safety rules ahead of final exams.

Twelfth-grade pupils in schools that follow the Ministry of Education's curriculum will sit exams this month.

Officials told the briefing that stringent safety guidelines would be in place.