UAE health official offers a thread by thread debunking of rumours regarding COVID-19 vaccine

Iman Abdullah Al Ali, Staff Reporter

The UAE Health authorities are keen to deny all rumours and misleading information about COVID-19 vaccine which are being circulated on social media sites without any scientific support, a health official said on Wednesday.

Dr Hussein Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary of Health Centres and Clinics Sector, and Chairman of the National Committee for the Implementation of the Provisions of International Health Regulations and Prevention of Pandemic, says that there are a number of rumours spread about the vaccine since the beginning of the pandemic until the adoption of vaccines.

Al Rand said: “There is a rumour claiming that the vaccine causes allergies which is not true, as more than a million people in the UAE have been vaccinated and no one has ever had an allergy."

"Another rumour that a person who has been infected with corona does not need the vaccine is also not true because the doctor is the one who evaluates it on the basis of an antibody test, then determines whether the person needs a vaccine or not.”

Al Rand added: "If the infection is mild and without symptoms, the vaccine is given directly, but if it is moderate or severe, and requires hospitalisation, immunity test must be done first, and then the vaccine is given according to the case and according to the evaluation of health care providers."

He also denied that the vaccine has a coded chip that is injected in the body, says that it is very normal like the other vaccines discovered in previous years.

Al Rand pointed out that all components of the vaccine are written on the box and are known by the medical care providers.

He also said that it is not right to assume that the vaccine is not safe just because it was developed within a very short period.

"The vaccine is safe according to studies and clinical trials, there are no complications. It is recommended to give to the elderly and people with chronic diseases, because they are among the groups most vulnerable to complications caused by Corona,” he affirmed.

Al Rand also denied the rumours claiming that vaccination causes sterility and affects genes.

He stressed that vaccine neither affects fertility nor causes infertility. And it does not change genes also.

He noted that there are some people excluded from vaccination, including pregnant women, and women who wish to conceive during the next three months.