Photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Iman Abdullah, Staff Reporter

On Sunday, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) begins vaccinating priority groups of Dubai government employees against the coronavirus, using the Pfizer vaccine.

The DHA affirmed that the vaccination, which will be given in two separate doses, is free and optional. It requested in an official letter to all general managers and executives in the institutions and departments of the Dubai government to classify its employees in categories which include senior citizens and elderly residents, people with chronic diseases, and members of the first defence line, employees of vital jobs. The authority emphasised the necessity for the lists to include the employee’s name, job number, job title, and national identity card number, to be included in the vaccination schedule.

DHA has set several conditions that must be met by the employees who will receive the vaccine, including the necessity to be within the specified categories, not to have immunological diseases, or previously infected with the coronavirus during the last three months, or have previously taken the vaccination against COVID-19. The person who will be vaccinated should not also be one of the remote working employees.

An earlier report said the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), in coordination with Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management and the COVID-19 Command and Control Centre announced that it has commenced its COVID-19 vaccination campaign. The campaign will see the DHA providing the Pfizer- BioNTech vaccination, which has recently been approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration and registered by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention.

UAE residents can register and book appointments for vaccination through the DHA app or the DHA’s toll-free number 800 342.

The first individuals to receive the vaccine are 84-year old senior citizen Ali Salem Ali Aladidi; 36-year-old Shamaa Saif Rashid Alalili from Dubai Ambulance; 45-year-old Asha Susan Philip, DHA nurse; 37-year-old Asif Khan Fazle Subhan, RTA driver; and 32-year-old Adel Hassan Shukralla from Dubai Police.