Coronavirus: UAE lowers age requirement for COVID-19 vaccines to 16

The United Arab Emirates has lowered the minimum age requirement to receive a COVID-19 vaccination to 16, from 18 previously, the ministry of health said on Sunday.

The UAE, made of up seven emirates, is offering all residents and citizens free of charge a vaccine manufactured by Chinese state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm.

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The emirate of Dubai alone is offering citizens and residents the choice of either the Sinopharm or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The statement carried by the country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority did not specify which vaccine the new minimum age applied to.

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On Sunday, the UAE has confirmed 3,453 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, raising the total to 253,261, the country’s NCEMA announced.

In another development, authorities in Abu Dhabi have updated the rules on entering the emirate from within the country effective from January 17, according to an official statement.

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with Reuters