Third-phase COVID-19 vaccine trials progress in Gulf countries

DUBAI – As the race for a coronavirus vaccine remains in full swing, some Gulf countries have embarked on third-phase trials, reportedly administering experimental injections.

Two vaccines are currently undergoing third-phase trials in the UAE, one produced by Chinese drug giant Sinopharm, and Russia’s Sputnik-V, named after the Soviet-era satellite.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said Tuesday he had received an experimental vaccine, becoming the latest United Arab Emirates official to take part in the trials.

“While receiving the COVID-19 vaccine today,” Sheikh Mohammed captioned a photograph of himself he posted on Twitter with his sleeve rolled up, as a healthcare worker in full protective equipment administered the injection.

“We wish everyone safety and great health, and we are proud of our teams who have worked relentlessly to make the vaccine available in the UAE,” he said, without specifying which vaccine he took.

China’s Sinopharm began the third phase of trials for a COVID-19 vaccine in the UAE in July and Emirati officials say the results have been positive.

Last month, authorities announced the UAE had also approved clinical trials of Russia’s Sputnik V, becoming the first Middle East country to do so.

Sheikh Mohammed is also prime minister of the UAE, a collection of seven emirates which has so far recorded more than 136,000 coronavirus cases, 503 of them fatal.

Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Youth Noura Al Kaabi and Minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman Al-Owais have also taken the experimental vaccine.

In September, Bahrain announced that Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa had taken part in third phase trials of the Sinopharm vaccine.

From Tuesday, Bahrain has granted emergency approval for the use of the Chinese vaccine on frontline workers, state news agency BNA said.

Bahraini Health Minister Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh said on Tuesday in comments carried by BNA that the use of the vaccine complies with the country’s regulations on exceptional licensing in emergency cases.

“The results of phase I and phase II clinical trials showed the vaccine is safe and effective,” she said, adding that phase III trials were going smoothly and without serious side effects.

Around 7,770 people have so far volunteered in the Phase III trials in Bahrain and have received a second dose, the minister added.

In late October, a Kuwaiti government source revealed that one million COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive in the country by early 2021.

Kuwaiti citizens, health workers, front line workers, the elderly and people with chronic illness will be given priority when the first batch of vaccines arrives.

The source said that the vaccines have been developed by three companies, one American, one German and one British, and have been proven to be successful.

Dozens of companies, from biotech start-ups to Big Pharma, are racing to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.

The World Health Organisation has identified 42 “candidate vaccines” at the stage of clinical trials.

Ten of them are at the most advanced “phase three” stage, in which a vaccine’s effectiveness is tested on a large scale, generally tens of thousands of people across several continents.