Sharjah has asked all teachers to come forward for a Covid-19 vaccination as efforts are stepped up to stop the spread of the disease. A notice on the emirate's Ministry of Education Twitter account set out a list of vaccination centres where all its employees would be able to access the vaccine. It said the decision would "complement the national efforts made to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus". Meanwhile, pupils aged 16 and over are being offered participation in a vaccination drive getting under way at three centres across Abu Dhabi. The week-long free drive began on Thursday, according to <em>Al Ittihad </em>newspaper. The scheme was organised by the emirate's private school regulator, Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), and the Ministry of Health and Prevention. Pupils aged 16 and over are eligible to be vaccinated but they must be accompanied by one of their parents or a legal guardian and present a valid Emirates ID before receiving the dose, the newspaper said. The vaccine centres are open from 10am to 7pm at Al Watan School in Shakhbout City, Al Janaen School in Al Ain, and Fatima College for Medical Sciences in Al Dhafra, until April 1. In January, the Ministry approved the use of the coronavirus vaccine for teenagers aged 16 and above. Previously, anyone under the age of 18 was not allowed to be inoculated against the virus. At the time, head teachers across the country said they would encourage older pupils to be vaccinated to protect themselves against the virus and increase safety at schools. Four vaccines are available in the UAE. Sinopharm and Sputnik V are available across the UAE, although the latter is only for emergency use. Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca are available in Dubai. Authorities announced that half of the country's population had been vaccinated two weeks before its target date of the end of March. To encourage people of all ages to be inoculated, authorities in Abu Dhabi introduced a service that allows Emiratis and residents aged 50 and above to book a home vaccination. As of Friday, almost 7.8 million doses had been administered across the country with a vaccination rate of 78.86 per 100 people.
