Abu Dhabi Blue Schools initiative helps to increase vaccination rates among pupils
Vaccination rates among pupils in Abu Dhabi have risen sharply since the emirate’s regulator for private schools announced the Blue Schools initiative.
The programme, which was announced by Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge last month, allows private and charter schools with higher vaccination levels to gradually ease coronavirus restrictions.
Inoculation numbers have risen among all age groups, with 93 per cent of pupils aged over 16, 68 per cent of pupils 12 to 15 years old and 21 per cent of under-12s now vaccinated against Covid-19. Thirty-seven per cent of pupils in Abu Dhabi private and charter schools have received two doses.
As a result, Adek has brought forward the Blue Schools programme by two months, and 34 schools have been allowed to relax physical distancing and mask-wearing protocols.
Other privileges include reintroducing field trips, on-campus events, extra-curricular activities such as team and contact sports, and inter and intra-school sports competitions.
On Thursday, a major health summit held in Abu Dhabi discussed the future of health care and innovations in the medical field. The two-day online event brings together more than 3,000 healthcare experts from several countries.
It is the second year of the Abu Dhabi Healthcare Summit, organised by the Department of Health Abu Dhabi in collaboration with the BMJ, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious medical journals.
The event is expected to reflect on the pressures Covid-19 placed on world health care and how this will play out as the pandemic continues to affect many parts of the world.
In Dubai, the government reduced social distancing from two metres to one in some locations in the emirate.
The Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing said restaurants and cafes, shopping centres, gyms, beaches, public and entertainment parks, offices and workplaces no longer needed to keep their customers and clients two metres apart.
Meanwhile, in Britain, a new Covid-19 treatment called molnupiravir has been granted conditional authorisation. Merck’s antiviral pill is the first medicine shown to successfully treat Covid-19 at home.
A tiger cub has been seized in Dubai after a member of the public reported seeing it on the loose.
Officers from a special police unit dedicated to combating the illegal trade in exotic animals confiscated the cub from a man who said he had bought it online after seeing an advertisement on social media.
“He said it’s his hobby to own exotic animals because he loves them,” said Col Khalfan Al Jallaf, director of the Environmental Crimes Division at Dubai Police.
The cub is between four and six months old. It was confiscated last week.
It is being sheltered by the municipality and will have a full health check before being transferred to Dubai Safari for rehabilitation.
The man, whose nationality and age were not disclosed by police, was referred to Dubai prosecutors for illegally possessing a wild animal.
“The penalty for this charge is up to six months in prison, but not less than a month, and/or a fine not less than Dh50,000 and not exceeding Dh500,000,” Col Al Jallaf said.
Since March, the unit has seized eight exotic animals.
All were being kept by men in their 30s.
The animals that were seized included a wolf, a fox and a finger-sized monkey.
“One of the animals was handed in by its owner after he read about the unit and the laws regarding possessing wild animals,” Col Al Jallaf said.
In September, police confiscated a lion cub after it was reported wandering around the Living Legends community.
“We found the cub very close to his owner’s house,” Col Al Jallaf said.
The owner would not reveal where he obtained the lion, but said he had not noticed it leaving the house.
Col Al Jallaf said there had been a significant decline in the number of reports of wild animals spotted in public.
“There has also been a drop in the number of people showing off by posting videos online of themselves with their wild animals,” he said.
The number of social media advertisements selling exotic animals has also decreased recently.
Col Al Jallaf credited the recent fall to action by police to spread awareness about the law.
“We used our Instagram and Twitter accounts and spoke to media outlets about our unit to let people know that individuals are prohibited from owning wild animals,” he said.
More campaigns and a conference to raise awareness about UAE laws concerning exotic animals and wildlife will be launched in the coming months.
Col Al Jallaf called on the public to report any incidents involving exotic animals by calling 999 or emailing aecs@ dubaipolice.gov.ae.
Members of the public can also call 901 for general enquiries.