Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron
Dubai has started offering the Covid-19 vaccine to children aged 5 and above.
Parents can book appointments on the Dubai Health Authority app from Tuesday, February 1.
The emirate has provided the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to the public since December 2020. It was made available to children aged 12 to 15 across the UAE in May last year.
"The current Covid-19 vaccination is available for citizens and Dubai residents who have a valid Dubai residence visa and are 5 years and above," read a message on the booking section on the DHA app.
The current Covid-19 vaccination is available for citizens and Dubai residents who have a valid Dubai residence visa and are 5 years and above
DHA app
Private healthcare centres were issued a briefing on January 25 to prepare for the expansion of the vaccination programme to younger children.
While most adults had at least some kind of protection from either vaccination or prior infection, the virus has spread more widely in children.
The risk of severe infection with Sars-CoV-2 is lower among children aged 5 to 11, compared to adults, but numbers of new cases and admissions to hospital continue to rise within this age group.
The DHA said admissions to hospital in children were increasing because of the Omicron variant.
Hospitals around the world have reported more children requiring hospital care as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 circulated rapidly.
Data from the US found a third of children admitted with Covid-19t required intensive care.
Of the children who developed severe illness, most had underlying medical conditions.
Current evidence suggests children with underlying genetic, neurologic and metabolic conditions or congenital heart disease are at increased risk of severe illness.
Youngsters are at risk of developing multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is a serious though uncommon condition associated with recent Sars-CoV-2 infection.
The condition is estimated to affect between 0.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent of all children who have Sars-CoV-2 diagnosed, and between 0.9 per cent and 7.6 per cent of Covid-19 paediatric patients admitted to hospital.
Meanwhile, in Canada, 272 cases of MIS-C in children under 19 had been reported as of October 16, 2021.
Their average age was 6, with 40 per cent of cases occurring in those aged 5 to 11.
On October 29, 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorisation to allow the use of the Pfizer vaccine, for immunisation to prevent the virus in children aged five and over.
Data from independent advisory committee experts found the vaccine to be 90.7 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19 in children.
In the UAE, Sinopharm has been available for children as young as 3, but the Pfizer vaccine was unavailable for children aged 5-11 until now, despite its approval for emergency use by regulators in November.
At the start of the year, about 30 Dubai schools returned to distance learning owing to concerns about rising cases of Covid-19 in younger children.
Many were unprotected against the virus unless they had been previously infected and had natural immunity provided by antibodies.
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Abu Dhabi pupils return to school - in pictures
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
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- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
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Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
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