Coronavirus: UAE begins phase 3 trials of COVID-19 vaccine with 15,000 volunteers

Health officials in the United Arab Emirates confirmed they have begun the started the third phase of clinical trials on a vaccine to treat COVID-19 with 10,000 people volunteering to take part.

The announcement was made on Wednesday during the daily briefing by Abdulrahman bin Mohammed al-Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention. The minister said the trials will be conducted on 15,000 volunteers, including men and women from different nationalities, calling on more volunteers to take part.

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“Al-Owais stressed that the health sector in the country adopts a flexible and multi-track strategy in dealing with the pandemic. These measures include the relevant local authorities conducting the largest possible number of medical examinations and providing the necessary treatment and care for patients and the strengthening cooperation with the international community to develop a safe vaccine against the disease,” the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

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Health officials added that a hotline number has been set up to answer volunteers' questions and provide them with support during the various stages of the trials, in addition to providing mobile clinics to ensure easy access to the volunteers.

“Al-Owais called on the community members to participate in the trials, stressing that the UAE is an ideal destination for such tests, as it hosts more than 200 nationalities. This great diversity allows those developing the vaccine to conduct more detailed research and contribute to enhancing the viability of the global application of the vaccine pending successful trials,” the WAM report read.

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