By Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D.
I was in United Arab Emirates for just under two weeks last month. 95% of the population of 10 million is vaccinated, 700,000 people a day take a PCR test that come back within five hours or faster, and everyone still wears masks outdoors to avoid steep US $800 fines.
At first I felt this was all a little excessive. I had three PCR tests for results fresh enough to gain access to the places I wanted to visit. But none of this was an ordeal— no lines or closed waiting rooms with people who are obviously sick like we have here.
Large PCR testing sites are set up in key locations throughout the city. Large employers like Dubai EXPO 2020, the World EXPO, have their own sites, one for employees and one for visitors.
Enter one, and several of 20 attendants sitting at their stations are immediately ready to receive you. Present your ID and contact info. As a foreigner I had to pay full price—$40—but through various arrangements, including through the government and work, locals test free.
Next up, move onto the row of private testing booths. My only complaint is that they jab the swabs a little further than they do here, but a minor inconvenience for the public good. There are also drive by testing sites if you prefer. No matter which option, 10 minutes later, you’re done.
The UAE government also brought the population along with them, where people are in this together. There has been a failure of our leadership in this country, resulting in making a pandemic political war.
In my two weeks of meetings and greetings and dinners and outings in Dubai, I did not get sick. No one of the dozens of people I met once talked about getting sick – because it is such a rare occurrence there. I’ve been back for one week, and now I’m sick, and so many friends are too or just got better.
If the world was being infected by a global pandemic, how do you think we should handle it? Dubai knows how to handle the COVID epidemic.
Rockefeller University alumnus and biotech inventor Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D., is the president of Research Foundation to Cure AIDS and Science & LGBTQ editor at WestView News. To support RFTCA, go to https://rftca.org/.
