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The dose will be given three months after second dose for high risk individuals and after six months for the rest.
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The UAE has also decided to inoculate children aged 3-17 with Chinese Sinopharm.
DUBAI: All fully vaccinated UAE individuals will be given a booster shot against Covid-19, the country’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) has said.
The booster shot will be given to individuals six months after they receive the second dose and three months after the second dose for individuals at high risk, NCEMA tweeted on Tuesday.
The UAE has also decided to inoculate children between the ages of 3 and 17 with Chinese Covid-19 vaccine Sinopharm. Although the Chinese vaccines have been criticized for their low efficacy, the UAE was still going ahead to vaccinate the younger children with the Sinopharm vaccine.
The UAE government took to twitter on Monday to make the announcement. It cited the health ministry as saying the decision comes after clinical trials and extensive evaluations, without providing any details. Authorities said in June the trial would monitor the immune response of 900 children.
The Gulf state, which has among the world’s highest immunization rates, was already providing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12-15.
The UAE had in June begun providing booster shots to those initially immunized with Sinopharm. It had approved five types of Covid-19 vaccines.