AstraZeneca praises UAE for vaccination rollout and testing strategy

(Dubai, UAE) - A Government Affairs Director from AstraZeneca, the developer of one of the leading COVID-19 vaccines in partnership with Oxford University, has praised the UAE’s vaccine rollout program by highlighting the work done by health authorities in the region to make vaccines available as soon as possible.

To date, over 12.1 million vaccination doses have been administered in the UAE with a vaccine distribution rate of over 124 doses per 100 people, with approximately 70,000 doses of the vaccine administered daily. In terms of population vaccinated, the UAE is currently fourth after the Seychelles, Maldives and Israel.

Qutaiba Al Manaseer, Government Affairs Director, Middle East and Africa, AstraZeneca, said: Middle East countries have been successful in their efforts to make vaccines available as soon as possible. Health authorities across the region have developed agile regulatory systems and adapted rolling review strategies to ensure a fast but thorough regulatory process.

“Specifically, the UAE ranks among the best in the world in terms of the speed of its vaccination programme. This is attributed to strong efforts from key senior stakeholders who worked collaboratively with health authorities to deliver impactful campaigns that are aimed at increasing the trust in the safety of vaccines available in the country, and uptake from the local population,” added Al Manaseer.

The comments were made ahead of the inaugural Pharma and Drug Discovery Conference to be held on the opening day of Arab Health, which takes place from 21-24 June 2021 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. During the conference, Mr Al Manaseer will be presenting the session Oxford University and AstraZeneca partnership towards broad and equitable access to COVID-19 Vaccine.

"From the start of the pandemic, AstraZeneca's approach has focused on partnering with scientists, governments, multilateral organisations and manufacturers to establish agreements for the development and supply of our vaccine, and to fight the pandemic, together,” said Al Manaseer.

“At AstraZeneca, we were proud to be the first global pharmaceutical company to join COVAX in June 2020. Through the initiative, we are partnering with CEPI, Gavi, the WhO, UNICEF and PAHO and our subscribing partner, the Serum Institue of India, to enable equitable and global access to our vaccine. Together, we have already delivered 37 million doses of our vaccine, including critical deliveries to countries in the Middle East. It is only through effective partnerships that reaching these milestones was made possible," he added.

Among the experts presenting at the Pharma & Drug Discovery Conference, are Dr Yang Xiaoming, Chairman of the China National Biotech Group (CNBG), Prof Graham Ball, Professor of Bioinformatics, Nottingham and Trent University, UK, and Prof Mirza Baig, Professor and Chairman of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapeutics, Dubai Pharmacy College for Girls.

Other notable insights will be delivered by from Prof Peter Hotez, Director, Texas Children's Center for Vaccine Development (CVD), Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine, Professor of Paediatrics ad Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Prof Dr Stefan H.E Kaufman, Director and Scientific Member, Max Planck Institut for Infection Biology, Prof Dr Mohammad Semreen, Professor and Chairman of Medicinal Chemistry Department, College of Pharmacy, University Sharjah, Prof Dr Gunnveig Grodeland, Senior Researcher and Group Leader, Oslo University Hospital Oslo and Farshad Guirakhoo, Chief Scientific Officer, COVAXX, United Biomedical, Chief Scientific Officer, Vaxxinity.

The conference will be chaired by Dr Mohammed Al-Gamal, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy, Medicinal Chemistry, Group Coordinator, Drug Design and Discovery Group, University of Sharjah.

“Drug development has been at the forefront of the news agenda for almost 18 months and will continue to be a topic of discussion for the foreseeable future. At Arab Health we are committed to addressing the most relevant topics in the healthcare sector and as such have brought together global experts to inform and shape the future of innovative models in drug discovery,” said Ross Williams, Exhibition Director at Arab Health.

Arab Health has been developed under the show theme of ‘United by Business, driving the industry forward’, with the live, in-person event expected to welcome 3,500 exhibiting companies and over 51,000 attendees from 170 countries expected to attend in-person and online during the event.

For more information, visit www.arabhealthonline.com.

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