The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has approved a China-developed COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, six weeks after human trials in the Gulf Arab state started, the Global Times reported.
"The vaccine will be available to our first line of defense heroes who are at the highest risk of contracting the virus," the UAE's National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority tweeted on Monday.
The move is aimed at helping to save millions of people's lives and offering health care to infected people as the country reported 777 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total confirmed cases to 80,266.
According to the country's top crisis authority, the vaccine had been tested on 31,000 volunteers, including 1,000 suffering from chronic diseases, and no complications occurred after vaccination.
"The results of clinical trials in our country are moving on the right path, with all tests being successful so far," noted the authority.
The drug is an inactivated vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). A Phase III trial of the vaccine kicked off in the Gulf country on July 16.
