UAE approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

The United Arab Emirates has approved Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the fifth vaccine to receive such approval by the Gulf Arab state, the health ministry said in a statement on state news agency WAM on Sunday.

The UAE, the region's tourism, trade and business hub, has had one of the world's fastest vaccination campaigns but daily coronavirus cases have remained close to 2,000, though below a peak near 4,000 in February.

The UAE, a federation of seven emirates, has reported the spread of the Beta, Delta and Alpha variants in the country of some 9.2 million people.

Around 73.8% of the UAE's population has received one vaccine dose while 63.7% are fully vaccinated, the health ministry said in a Twitter post on Saturday.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia on Saturday banned travel to and entry from four countries, including the UAE. The restriction applies to anyone who has been there within the last 14 days.