Tourists walk by an Emirati family in Dubai on Jan. 12, 2021. (AP)

Coronavirus: UAE cases surpass 3,500, marking record high number of infections

United Arab Emirates

Emily Judd, Al Arabiya English

Published: 20 January ,2021: 02:33 PM GST Updated: 20 January ,2021: 02:48 PM GST

Coronavirus cases in the United Arab Emirates surpassed 3,500 on Wednesday, marking a record high daily number of infections for the country.

The ministry of health reported 3,506 new cases, 3,746 recoveries and six COVID-19 related deaths.

While coronavirus cases in the country have steadily climbed since the beginning of January, the government has also implemented an aggressive rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

Over 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed in the country of 9.9 million people, including both the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine and the American-made Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

A handout picture taken by the Government of Dubai Media Office on December 23, 2020, shows a health worker administering a dose of the coronavirus vaccine to a nurse at a medical center in the Dubai Emirate. (AFP)

The UAE is ranked first globally in distribution of daily doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with a rate of 1.16 doses per 100 people, and fifth in terms of the availability of the vaccines, according to the country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority.

Taking the vaccine is “every individual’s responsibility to protect their health, families and wider society,” UAE Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in a tweet on Tuesday.

The UAE has made great strides in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we are ranked the second globally in the vaccine administration rates. Taking the vaccine is every individual's responsibility to protect their health, families and wider society.
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) January 12, 2021

Vaccination centers have been set up in six out of the country’s seven emirates.

Dubai’s government, which announced its seventh Pfizer-BioNTech designated vaccination center last week, plans to inoculate 70 percent of its population with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year.