UAE aims to vaccinate its entire population as soon as possible. And to ensure the safety of its citizens, Abu Dhabi is time and again updating the rules. As per the new rule, people in Abu Dhabi undergoing medical screening for residency visa application or renewal will have to present a negative Covid-19 test result. Read on to know more about it.
People Applying Or Renewing Residency Visa In Abu Dhabi To Now Provide A Negative Covid Report
As per the new rules, those seeking residency visa will have to provide a negative report taken within 72 hours of the health check. Starting today, Monday, all applicants visiting screening centres operated by Ambulatory Healthcare Services must prove that they are covid free. Ambulatory Healthcare Services operates 11 centres across the capital.
Also read: UAE Approves FREE Sinopharm Vaccination For Chinese Tourists In Dubai
The safety measures were announced by the health body on social media. An official in the statement said,
“All applicants visiting the Disease Prevention and Screening Centres should have a negative Covid-19 result on the Al Hosn app done within 72 hours starting from Monday, June 7, and must follow all the recommended precautionary measures.”
For those unaware, medical screening is a mandate to secure residency in the UAE and now, providing a covid-19 negative certificate is again a must. The medical screening comprises a blood test and a chest X-ray to check for a range of diseases.
People Who Have Received Sinopharm In The Past Can Now Take Pfizer As Booster Shot In Abu Dhabi
Besides this, Abu Dhabi recently allowed the mixing of two vaccines in the capital. People who have taken two doses of Sinopharm can now take a Pfizer shot as the booster shot in the capital.
As per the reports in Reuters, the UAE and Bahrain have made Pfizer vaccine available as a booster shot for those who have initially received Sinopharm. The booster shot can be taken three months after the second shot.
Both Patient And Doctor Should Fill Up A Consent Form Before Taking The Shot
In terms of the booster shot, it is available only at Mubadala Health vaccination for now, and one has to take a prior appointment and have a doctor’s consent before taking the shot. So if you have taken Sinopharm in the past and now want to take Pfizer as a booster shot, you would have to fill a consent form titled: ‘Consent to take different Covid-19 vaccine type, than the previously received vaccine type’. And your doctor has to fill a consent form too. These consent forms are available for free at the centre.
For the form ‘for the use of the physician’, a doctor needs to verify the dates of the earlier doses and then inform an application that there are no evidence-based scientific studies regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in case of combining different Covid-19 vaccines. The doctor must also inform the applicants about the common side effects. And once all this is done, the doctor can sign the consent form and permit them to take the booster shot.