a shot in the arm.New daily cases in the Gulf state of about 9 million people tripled in the past month to about 354 per million this week, according to Oxford University's Our World in Data research program.
"We hope that with vaccinations picking up pace we will reach the point of full recovery in the shortest possible time," the UAE's de facto ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, said last week. "This is rightly raising questions about the near-term sustainability of the current nascent recovery in the UAE economy and the extent to which it can remain insulated faced with a second wave which is currently unfolding at the global level," Khan said.
The UAE aims to vaccinate half its population before the end of March. It had delivered doses equivalent to more than a fifth of its population by Jan. 20. Only Israel is ahead, delivering doses equivalent to a third of its population. "People around the world are just desperate to get a vaccine and it is literally available on a platter for us," said Ali Fehmi, a banker from Pakistan, who took a Sinopharm shot at one of the growing number of walk-in centres offering free vaccinations.Even before the vaccine rollout, parts of the UAE were swift to reopen. Visitors could travel to Dubai from July and to Abu Dhabi from December. Those arriving are given a free PCR test.