First volunteer receives Covid-19 vaccine in London trial


Jamie Prentis
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The first healthy volunteer has received a dose of a potential Covid-19 vaccine from researchers at Imperial College London.

The anonymous volunteer is reported to be in good health and being closely monitored after being injected on June 19. They will receive a booster within four weeks.

Dr Katrina Pollock, from Imperial’s Department of Infectious Disease and chief investigator of the study, said thousands of volunteers had signed up to be part of the vaccine studies.

"We have reached a significant milestone in this ground-breaking study with the first dose of a self-amplifying RNA vaccine delivered safely,” she said.

"We are now poised to test the vaccine in the dose evaluation phase before moving forward to evaluating it in larger numbers.”

Several other people are expected to receive the vaccination in the next few days. In the coming weeks, if the vaccine is safe and shows promise, another 300 participants will received two doses.

"We now eagerly await rapid recruitment to the trial so that we can assess both the safety of the vaccine and its ability to produce neutralising antibodies, which would indicate an effective response against Covid-19. I look forward to our progress in the coming months,” said Professor Robin Shattock from the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial.

The vaccine is being supported with £41 million (£189m) in funding from the UK government and £5m (Dh23m) in charitable donations.

Another vaccine is being developed at Oxford University with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

A vial with potential vaccine for the coronavirus disease is pictured at the Imperial College London. Reuters.
A vial with potential vaccine for the coronavirus disease is pictured at the Imperial College London. Reuters.
The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

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Gertrude Bell's life in focus

A feature film

At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.

A documentary

A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.

Books, letters and archives

Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
 

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Scoreline

Real Madrid 1
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The Bio

Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”

Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”

Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”

Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

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Born in Dibba, Sharjah in 1972.
He is the eldest among 11 brothers and sisters.
He was educated in Sharjah schools and is a graduate of UAE University in Al Ain.
He has written poetry for 30 years and has had work published in local newspapers.
He likes all kinds of adventure movies that relate to his work.
His dream is a safe and preserved environment for all humankind. 
His favourite book is The Quran, and 'Maze of Innovation and Creativity', written by his brother.

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Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton

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The five pillars of Islam
The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

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Countries recognising Palestine

France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra