Abu Dhabi: The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) has issued a circular asking those government officials who have not received the COVID-19 vaccine in the United Arab Emirates to undergo a COVID-19 PCR test after every two days. The new rule will take effect from Sunday, August 29th.
Earlier, the requirement for a PCR test for unvaccinated government officials was every seven days.
This applies to employees of all federal government departments and ministries, the circular said.
The PCR test rule also applies to those employees who are medically not eligible to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Outsourced and public services companies contracted by federal government entities must conduct a PCR test every 48 hours for their employees working on a full-time basis at government offices,” the FAHR said.
The companies will bear the costs of conducting the tests.
As per the media reports, the government sector and a few private companies have modified their workplace visitor policy to restrict their workplaces to only vaccinated visitors to protect employees.
The UAE is among the most vaccinated countries. Nearly 85 per cent of the population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 75 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated against the virus.
Vaccines are administered in the UAE free of charge. It is available to residents aged three years and above.