Officials in Abu Dhabi have announced new border rules for those entering the emirate amid rising COVID-19 cases reported across the country in recent weeks.

The Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee said that vaccinated people coming into Abu Dhabi must show the Al Hosn green pass, while those who have not been vaccinated must show a negative PCR test taken in the previous 96 hours.

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The UAE on Monday reported 1,732 new coronavirus cases and one death. Whilst this was a slight decline on the numbers reported the previous days, new daily cases have been steadily rising for weeks.

Authorities, who do not give a breakdown for each emirate, said around 91 percent of the population of some 10 million had been fully vaccinated.

The new rules were announced on Tuesday and will come into effect on Thursday.

The rules will come in addition to existing safety protocols, which include EDE scanners that aim to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The technology screens for potential COVID-19 infection and provides immediate results. The scanners are operated at a distance and is effective for mass screening, such as at the entry to public locations.

The UAE on Tuesday also approved emergency use of Sinopharm’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine and it will be available to the public as a booster dose starting January 2022, the health ministry said.

The vaccine will be produced and distributed by a joint venture between the UAE’s Group 42 and China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), the ministry said in a statement on state media on Monday.

The approval came following a UAE-based study that included individuals who were previously vaccinated with two doses of Sinopharm CNBG’s inactivated vaccine, the ministry added.

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