Related: UAE to offer third dose of Sinopharm as booster
The UAE will allow people fully vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine to receive a booster shot to ensure "maximum protection" against Covid-19.
Dr Farida Al Hosani, spokeswoman for the country's health sector, said the additional shot would be administered six months after the second.
The booster will be available to all eligible citizens and residents, although priority will be given to the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
A third booster dose will not be required by all, it depends on the immune response of each patient
As Sinopharm was approved for use in the Emirates on December 9, booster doses are likely to begin in July.
A limited number of third doses have already been administered in the Emirates.
“The door has been opened for the public to receive an additional, supportive dose of Sinopharm for people who have completed more than six months since the second dose,” said Dr Al Hosani.
Who will require a booster dose?
Dr Sawsan Humaida is a specialist in internal medicine at Bareen International Hospital in Abu Dhabi, where some third doses have already been administered.
She said not all people fully vaccinated with Sinopharm will need the third dose and advised people to take an antibody test first.
“A third booster dose will not be required by all, it depends on the immune response of each patient," she said.
“When we give the second dose of the vaccine, it is recommended to test blood after three weeks to check the antibody level against the Covid-19 virus.
“If it is adequate, that person will not require a third dose, but if it is a low level then a booster will be required."
Dr Humaida said an antibody test to ascertain whether a third dose would be beneficial would be a decision for each individual to take.
“Up to now, these antibody tests are not covered by health insurance so they are purely optional for the individual," she said.
“Hopefully this will change so more people are able to take this antibody test so we can do more research and understand how the vaccine is working.
“Covid-19 is still a new virus, so everything we are doing is under research."
Antibody test is cheap and effective
“Antibody tests cost about Dh65, and is a simple blood sample that will return results in about three hours," said Dr Humaida.
“The results are 100 per cent accurate. An antibody reading above 300 arbitrary units per millilitre is unusual, but we would expect to see any reading greater than 100 after a second dose would give adequate protection.
“We are testing specifically for the antibodies created against the coronavirus.
"The higher the value, the better response to the vaccine, and the better immune response," she said.
“These immunological tests or quantitative serology tests have been used for decades and are reliable.
“It is advisable for vulnerable groups who have had a second vaccine dose to do this antibody test to check if they need a booster.”
Third dose to ensure 'safety of all'
Walid Zaher, chief research officer of G42 Healthcare, the company responsible for distributing the Sinopharm vaccine in the UAE, spoke in March about the benefits of the additional dose.
He said some people did not create enough antibodies to protect themselves against Covid-19 – a phenomenon “which is expected with all vaccines”.
Dr Zaher emphasised that very few people required a booster.
“It's a very small number compared to the millions who have received the vaccine already,” he said.
“The main purpose here is to ensure the safety of everyone, and that was already achieved. It happens that some people will not respond as well as other people."
Global health sector gears up for booster shots
Several countries are preparing to give Covid-19 booster shots between six and 12 months after people were vaccinated.
Bahrain is to start issuing its third Covid-19 vaccine doses six months after the second shot.
The US, Israel and the UK are among other nations putting procedures in place to offer additional vaccines to protect against a possible winter wave.
The US said it is preparing for the possibility that a third booster will be required between nine and 12 months after people complete the first vaccine course.
Israel, which executed one of the world’s most comprehensive vaccine drives solely using the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, bought 36 million Moderna vaccines in case boosters are required.
And the UK, which has fully vaccinated a third of all adults, aims to begin issuing boosters in the autumn.
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The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
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Catchweight 60kg: Mohammed Al Katheeri (UAE) beat Mostafa El Hamy (EGY) TKO round 3
Light Heavyweight: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) no contest Kevin Oumar (COM) Unintentional knee by Oumer
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Featherweight: Faris Khaleel Asha (JOR) beat Yousef Al Housani (UAE) TKO in round 2 through foot injury
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Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Sallah Eddine Dekhissi (MAR); Round-1 TKO
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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.”
