Vaccines save up to 5 million lives a year in UAE and other GCC countries – News

The UAE has been focused on the healthcare sector, as evidenced by how it has handled the Covid-19 pandemic and become the most vaccinated country in the world

Annual vaccinations in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are effective in preventing epidemics and saving five million lives, according to the Gulf Health Council.

On the occasion of Gulf Vaccination Day, the council revealed the importance of vaccination in preventing many epidemics and protecting the public from the dangers of infection and death.

Importantly, some diseases no longer exist in the region thanks to the invention of vaccination, it said.

Over the past few decades, the UAE and neighboring Gulf countries have paid great attention to the healthcare sector and the well-being of their residents. This speaks volumes of how the UAE has responded to the coronavirus pandemic and become the most vaccinated country in the world.

According to the UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (Ncema), vaccination is the best way to defeat the coronavirus pandemic, and the higher the level of community vaccination, the higher the percentage of immunity.

The Gulf Health Council says the vaccine helps stop the disease or reduce symptoms of infection, providing up to 99 percent protection.

“Vaccines prevent approximately 3.5 to 5 million deaths each year from diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza and measles, and a single dose of the MMR vaccine can help prevent rubella by 97 per cent,” it said.

The committee also noted that over time, a person may need multiple vaccinations as boosters because some vaccines, such as hepatitis A and flu vaccines, do not provide strong immunity for long periods of time.