People & Money

No. You Can’t Get Covid Vaccine in Dubai Like Atiku

Some are of the opinion that just anyone with the money to fly to Dubai, like Atiku, can get the coronavirus vaccine freely. That notion is wrong. As of now, the UAE is not offering vaccines to non-residents, including tourists.”

A commitment by pharmaceutical companies to sell their coronavirus vaccines only to governments, for now, means the drugs are not available on the open market or in private clinics where it can be accessed immediately by wealthy individuals. 

Rich countries moved quickly to sign forward purchase agreements with suppliers and will reserve most of the vaccines that will be made this year. In the meantime, however, they have been forced to ration the limited quantities of jabs available immediately in public rollout schemes, with frontline healthcare workers exposed to the virus and aged people more likely to die if they are infected among those prioritised.

In essence, currently available vaccines are being distributed according to the medical perception of vulnerability to Covid-19 infection and death rather than purchasing power or regardless of how rich one is.

So recent reports of former Nigerian Vice President Abubakar Atiku getting vaccinated in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) generated a lot of conversations on social media this week.

Also Read: Covid-19 Vaccine: Can Rich Nigerians Get it ASAP?

Health authorities in the UAE in December launched a voluntary Covid-19 vaccination programme, offering all citizens and residents Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for free should they wish to be inoculated. The country’s population is estimated at 9.8 million by the United Nations, and it is widely believed every person will get the vaccine under the government, which ranks highly on efficiency, compared to the United Kingdom for instance where it may take almost a year to get to everyone.

Starting out in Abu Dhabi early last month, the programme has since been extended to Dubai and the Northern Emirates as the government pushes for nationwide immunity against the novel coronavirus.

Also Read: UAE Offers Free Chinese Vaccines To Immunise Population Against Coronavirus

On Thursday, the presidential media team said via Twitter that the ex-vice president had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Dubai, UAE. 

“The importance of the #COVID19 vaccine in mitigating the effect of the coronavirus cannot be overstated, particularly in Africa and Nigeria. Yesterday (Wednesday), as part of the mass vaccination programme, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine,” Atiku’s spokesman said.

https://twitter.com/cremechic11/status/1347124322914230273

 

Meanwhile, some are of the opinion that just anyone with the money to fly to Dubai, like Atiku, can get the coronavirus vaccine freely.

That notion is wrong, however. Checks reveal there are some criteria to meet before one can be vaccinated freely in the Arab country.

As of now, Dubai and the UAE are not offering vaccines to non-residents, including tourists.

As of now, Dubai (and the UAE at large) is not offering vaccines to non-residents, including tourists. The target of the vaccination campaign are select UAE residents and Emiratis.

Also Read: Covid-19: Nigeria to Vaccinate 40 Percent of Population in 2021

More so, like many other countries where mass vaccinations against the coronavirus are going on, the distribution is prioritised. 

Eligibility norms stipulate that those being vaccinated in the first category are citizens and foreign residents above 60 years old, people of determination, and those with comorbidities.

The former VP Atiku is well over 60 – he clocked 74 last November – and most definitely has UAE citizenship having stayed in Dubai for several years. As a matter of fact, the former presidential aspirant and his team, in a bizarrely inept decision, ran the initial part of the campaign for the 2019 elections from Dubai, sharing pictures from opulent accommodation on social media in what turned out to be a big gift to the ruling party All Progressives’ Congress and now President Muhammadu Buhari.

In the second category are frontline healthcare workers, from both public and private sector, vital sector workers in the third, and anyone (resident and Emirati) who wishes to get vaccinated in the fourth category.

Michael Ajifowoke

Michael is a budding media professional with more than two years of experience covering business, economy & tech. He spends his leisure reading about economics, finance, and international development.

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