People in UAE and UK most likely to take Covid-19 vaccine

UAE citizens and residents are among the most likely people in the world to take the Covid-19 vaccine, new poll results show.

The YouGov survey on vaccine hesitancy showed 87 per cent of people in the UAE said they would receive the injection.

This was second only to Britain, where 90 per cent of those polled were willing to be vaccinated.

Both countries have overseen successful inoculation campaigns, with each approving its first Covid-19 vaccine in December last year.

Scroll through the slideshow for the full results of the survey.

The UAE has administered 11.5 million doses, National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority figures show.

By late April, nearly 40 per cent of the population had been fully vaccinated with two doses.

More than 30 per cent of the UK population is fully vaccinated, with 56.7 million doses administered.

The YouGov poll said vaccine willingness had steadily increased in the UAE since the start of the country's inoculation drive in December.

The figures showed vaccine willingness in the Emirates was 63 per cent on December 16, rising to 78 per cent on February 14, before reaching 87 per cent on April 26.

About 70 per cent of people were willing to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in the UK on December 14, rising to 90 per cent by May 6.

YouGov said young people in the UK aged between 18 and 24 were the country's most vaccine-hesitant, with 23 per cent saying they would not take it.

In comparison, 18 per cent of people in Britain aged 25 to 49 were vaccine-hesitant, falling to 6 per cent of those aged 50 to 64.

Only 3 per cent aged 65 and over were vaccine-hesitant in the UK, the survey said.

The enthusiasm among older people for vaccination reflects their concerns about contracting Covid-19.

They are more likely to be admitted to hospital and suffer more serious symptoms than younger people.

Younger people were also the least likely to have been offered the vaccine under Britain’s priority delivery schedule.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the survey results showed that people in the UK “backed the jab”.

“It is our way out of this pandemic,” he said on Twitter.

“This stellar level of support for vaccines didn’t happen by accident. Huge praise for my team who have worked so hard to get this right.”

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair said on Monday some countries in Africa were rejecting AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine based on "rumours and stuff flying around on the internet".

His comments came as the UN children's fund said that G7 countries, seven of the world's advanced economies, and the EU could donate 150 million Covid-19 vaccine doses while maintaining their own inoculation campaigns.

Only 0.3 per cent of vaccine supply is going to the 29 lowest-income countries – even though they are home to nine per cent of the world's population, Unicef said.

The gap spurred World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to ask vaccine-wealthy nations to delay inoculating children and adolescents and instead donate doses to the Covax initiative, a project aimed at providing vaccines to the world's poorest countries.

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6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m

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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

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.”