26,000 Emirates staff have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Emirates Group vaccination program has reached high gear with over 26,000 staff taking the jab. The airline group launched its aggressive vaccination drive a month ago and now over 44 percent of the airline's staff are vaccinated. Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates Airline said: “Our operational workforce are at the aviation frontline, helping people get to where they need to be, and moving essential goods to global communities. Protecting our people with vaccinations is important – for them, for our community, for the smooth running of our operations, and also for our customers as it introduces an additional layer of protection when they travel with us. READ: Air New Zealand to trial digital health pass "We’ve seen a very positive response with high demand and take-up of the Covid-19 vaccine from our colleagues at the operational frontline, and there’s continued momentum in the rate of vaccinations across the business." Nearly 5,000 Cabin and Flight Deck Crew have opted to receive both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. In addition, thousands more Emirates Group employees in other roles have taken their COVID-19 vaccine through the company’s clinics and vaccination centers, while others have opted to take their vaccine at one of the many vaccination centers across the UAE. Al Redha added: “At the outset of the pandemic, Emirates implemented robust safety measures to protect and prioritize the safety of our customers and employees at all stages of the travel journey, and with the rapid progress of our own vaccination program and high rates of take-up, more of our flights will soon be operating with fully vaccinated frontline employees. We are also confident that with more people being vaccinated, combined with strong safety measures in place, we can all look forward to the easing of border entry guidelines for many countries.” The UAE currently has one of the world’s highest rates of vaccinations for its citizens and residents as it fights to curb the spread of Covid-19. So far, the UAE has administered over 5.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, and Our World In Data, a research website based at Oxford University, recently reported that the country’s distribution rate stands at 55.27 doses per 100 people, ranking it the second-highest in the world. Last week the airline launched its first fully vaccinated flight crew flight, EK215, from Dubai to Los Angeles. As well all the check-in, security, Business, and First Class lounge and boarding gate employees, as well as engineers were also vaccinated. Also supporting the flight’s operations were fully vaccinated aircraft appearance, loading and special handling teams from dnata, as well as SkyCargo teams working on the cargo and logistics requirements for EK215.