The first Phase-III clinical trial of Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm's inactivated COVID-19 vaccine has started in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, the Abu Dhabi government media office said on July 17.

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The UAE health authorities recently issued a permit for up to 15,000 volunteers to take part in the trials. The trials are the result of a cooperation partnership between Abu Dhabi-based G42 Healthcare, currently at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19 in the UAE, and Sinopharm's China National Biotec Group (CNBG).

The trials are being operated by health practitioners from Abu Dhabi Health Services (SEHA) who are providing facilities at five of their sites in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in addition to a mobile clinic to ensure the trials are readily accessible to volunteers participating in the programme. "We will work closely with our partner to complete this clinical trial successfully, and make this vaccine available to the people in need worldwide," the President, Biological products, Sinopharm CNBG, said in a statement. "With the full support of local authorities, cutting-edge technologies provided by our partner G42 Healthcare, and high-quality services and support from the medical and clinical entities, we will jointly contribute to the battle against COVID-19 worldwide."

The UAE was the preferred choice for the cooperation partnership to conduct the Phase-III trials for the inactive vaccine as the nation is home to over 200 nationalities, allowing for robust research across multiple ethnicities and increasing its feasibility for global application on the success of the trials. G42 Healthcare and SEHA are working towards achieving a minimum of 5,000 participants in the first stage of the programme to ensure the robustness of the results.

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