UAE, China launch Hayat-Vax

H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, have launched "Life Sciences and Vaccine Manufacturing in the UAE".

The “Life Sciences and Vaccine Manufacturing in the UAE” is a joint project by the UAE’s Group 42 and China’s Sinopharm CNBG, and was announced on the sidelines of an official visit by the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, to the UAE.

The new vaccine plant in KIZAD will become operational this year and over its phased development will have a production capacity of 200 million doses per annum across three filling lines and five automated packaging lines.

The launch ceremony started with a short video on the UAE-China cooperation during the COVID-19 crisis.

Addressing the ceremony Liu Jingzhen, Chairman of Sinopharm, said, "Today we are making large strides in the global battle against COVID-19. And this pioneering project is the fruit of close cooperation and strategic partnership between the UAE and China and their leading efforts in fighting this crisis."

Sheikh Abdullah hailed the privileged levels of relations between the two nations and the support provided by their leadership to further consolidate collaboration on all fronts.

The first vaccine approved for emergency use within the UAE was the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine. The UAE was the first country in the world to approve the vaccine on December 9, 2020 after initiating its trial in the country on June 23, 2020.

The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention announced that 122,069 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered. The total number of doses provided stands at 8,081,751 with a vaccine distribution rate of 81.71 doses per 100 people.