Coronavirus: UAE records 1,519 new cases

Abu Dhabi residents are inoculated at the screening and vaccine centre on the Corniche. A nationwide testing and inoculation campaign is credited with driving down cases. All photos: Victor Besa / The National

Staff and nurses from the Abu Dhabi public hospital group Seha urged the public to protect themselves from Covid-19 by signing up to be vaccinated.

Motorists queue for PCR tests at Seha's testing and vaccination centre on Abu Dhabi's Corniche.

Mass testing and a successful vaccination campaign has helped the UAE to tackle the pandemic.

Drivers wait at a centre that provides both PCR nasal swab tests and coronavirus vaccine doses.

Shenaz Abdul Salam, 13, gives a thumbs up as he waits to receive his first vaccine dose.

A staff nurse fills in a vaccination form for a driver at the Corniche centre.

Mariam Al Badi, an Emirati nurse working at Seha's drive-through vaccine centre, has urged everyone to get inoculated against Covid-19.

Ms Al Badi goes through the vaccination process with a driver.

Cars queue at the drive-through testing and vaccination centre on Abu Dhabi's Corniche.

More than 80 per cent of the UAE population has been vaccinated and the government is urging those who have not to sign up.

An Abu Dhabi resident gives the thumbs up after signing up for vaccination.

Authorities have made the vaccines free for everyone.

A medical worker checks papers as Abu Dhabi residents sign up for the Covid-19 vaccine.

The drive-through Covid-19 testing and inoculation centre has proved popular with Abu Dhabi residents.

READ MORE: All the latest Covid-19 news on our liveblog

The UAE reported 1,519 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday after an additional 284,403 tests.

The latest caseload brings the number of infections recorded since the start of the pandemic to 682,377.

Two people died of Covid-related causes in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 1,951.

Another 1,466 people overcame the virus, taking the number of recoveries to 659,664. Active cases stand at 20,762.

Mass testing and one of the world's fastest vaccination programmes have been integral to the UAE's handling of the pandemic.

Authorities have confirmed that at least 78.95 per cent of the UAE population have received one Covid-19 vaccine dose, while 70.57 per cent is fully vaccinated.

Cases have dropped sharply in the UAE over the past few months after reaching close to 4,000 in January.

Meanwhile, a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can “strongly” boost antibodies and provide high protection against the Delta variant, the drug maker has said.

The Delta variant is driving infection rates up in countries across the world but Pfizer said antibody levels against it, in people ages 18 to 55 who receive three doses of the shot, are more than five times those produced after a second dose.

UAE authorities last week said a decline in Covid-19 infections will mark a return to offices for workers and the cautious resumption of tourism and economic activity.

At its weekly coronavirus briefing, the government said the decrease in cases vindicates the UAE’s strategy for curbing Covid-19 through rules, vaccination and coexistence with the virus.