UAE vaccinates more than 190,000 in weekend push

People queued in centres across the country on Friday and Saturday

Thousands of people signed up for a three-day vaccine drive at Guru Nanak Darbar, Dubai's Sikh temple. All photos by Pawan Singh / The National

Hundreds of people queued on Saturday to receive a dose of the Sinopharm vaccine

Over three days, it is hoped that 4,500 people will receive the first of two vaccine shots made by Sinopharm

The temple organised the drive with Tamouh Health Care to ensure as many people are protected as possible, given a recent spike in cases

Medics administer shots of the vaccine on Saturday

People queued patiently as staff worked their way through hundreds of people

The vaccine drive was arranged not just for regular worshippers but also people of all nationalities and faiths

A medic also carries out a PCR swab test

More than 190,000 vaccine doses were given to UAE residents in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Saturday.

Medics administered 193,187 shots on one of the biggest days yet in the vaccine drive.

The Ministry of Health and Prevention said the total stood at 4,201,347. That equates to 42.48 doses per 100 people.

Officials said good progress was made in the campaign to protect the public and "efforts to reach acquired immunity, which will help reduce the number of cases and control the coronavirus".

On Friday, the four million mark was passed when 158,786 doses were administered. Minister of Health and Prevention Abdulrahman Al Owais said the milestone added to the "track record and comes as part of the country's keenness to provide vaccines to all members of the society".

Across the Emirates, people patiently waited in queues to receive a dose of the two-shot vaccine, which is free and voluntary.

At Dubai's Guru Nanak Darbar in Jebel Ali, Sikh temple leaders arranged a three-day vaccination drive that began on Saturday.

Within hours of posting about the initiative last week, 6,000 people of all nationalities and religions tried to register to have the Sinopharm shot, which was administered by Tamouh healthcare, a government-approved vaccine partner.

Surender Singh Kandhari, the temple’s chairman, said there was only time and space for 4,500 people – but he hopes to arrange another vaccine drive in weeks ahead.

"We announced it on Thursday morning and by Thursday evening, we already had 6,000 people applying to get the vaccine registration done," he told The National.

“It’s not available everywhere and people are having great difficulty, so they are very welcome to come to the temple and get a vaccine done.”