The UAE has dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic better than many other developed countries and will now play a leading role manufacturing the Sinopharm vaccine. AFP
The UAE has dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic better than many other developed countries and will now play a leading role manufacturing the Sinopharm vaccine. AFP
The UAE has dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic better than many other developed countries and will now play a leading role manufacturing the Sinopharm vaccine. AFP
As the UAE takes steps to increase the production of jabs across the globe, governments must understand the danger of acting slowly in response to Covid-19
News that the UAE has struck a deal to manufacture the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine highlights the role the country is playing in the global pandemic response.
The nation has already achieved an astonishing rate of eight vaccination doses admitted per 100 people. This is the second highest figure globally, after Israel and ahead of Bahrain. This new manufacturing agreement, therefore, fits into a wider pattern of the country leading efforts to free the world from grips of Covid-19.
Since the virus emerged the year before last, it has tested the speed at which individual countries act in an international crisis. Nations have diverged in their case numbers and fatalities, in some cases to tragic extremes. The push to inoculate populations is now at risk of widening the public health gap, as some countries accelerate their vaccine drives quicker than others. But herd immunity is a shared objective across the whole of humanity. Each jab delivered is not just an individual success and heavy dose of relief, but also a crucial step in achieving long-term goal of ending the pandemic.
The crux of herd immunity is to inoculate a sufficient percentage of the population to make it difficult for a virus to find enough hosts to carry on spreading. The threshold varies, depending upon the infectiousness of a given disease. For measles, the figure was as high as 95 per cent. Experts are not yet able to estimate the proportion necessary for Covid-19.
The emergence of new strains of Covid-19 in the UK and South Africa sheds light on the challenges of vaccination and the necessity of quick, decisive efforts. There is no reason thus far to suggest that either of these strains is resistant to vaccines already in development. But they are evidence of the fact that the virus is in constant mutation, and future strains may prove more problematic. Medical experts believe that speedy, mass inoculation is the best way to outpace such mutations. With such a small percentage of the global population vaccinated, nations risk being slow at their peril. And if resistant variations do emerge, the world will need another round of costly and time-consuming vaccine developments.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock pets Larry the cat outside Downing Street, home of the UK Prime Minister, as the country enters its third lockdown. Reuters
Fighting Covid-19 is ultimately a matter of capacity-building
It is not only less well-resourced countries that are struggling to vaccinate, but many of the most advanced as well. This underscores the necessity of governments to formulate effective inoculation strategies, even as new vaccines are under development and trial periods. In the US, for example, vaccination targets have fallen well below a target of 20 million people by the end of 2020.
Capacity, across all areas, has been a major concern during the pandemic. Early on, many worried about the numbers of beds and ventilators in hospitals and then the number of Covid-19 tests. Currently, governments are haunted by their limited ability to inoculate populations fast enough.
Fighting Covid-19 is ultimately a matter of commitment and capacity-building. Countries must work in tandem to continue developing as many resources as possible, as widely distributed as possible, in the areas of testing, information-sharing, economic support, public messaging and vaccination. With the UAE and others now manufacturing leading vaccines, the tide of the pandemic is all the more likely to reverse.
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
