The United Arab Emirates is moving closer towards its March target of 50 percent vaccination coverage, with 48 percent of its population now having received a vaccine, according to the country’s National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA).

A total of 3,777,143 people in the UAE have now received the vaccine, according to the authority, which added that inoculations have been provided to 64.5 percent of the country’s elderly population.

The UAE started its mass vaccination program in December 2020, aiming to inoculate 50 percent of its population by March 2021.

It will continue until December 2021 when the government aims to have vaccinated 70 percent of the country.

The country’s health care sector is also preparing to open seven new hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients this month, even though reported case numbers have been decreasing in recent weeks, the committee added.

The seven new hospitals will provide a total of 2,058 beds, of which 292 are for critical cases.

The UAE also recorded 55,966 violations of coronavirus rules in February, according to the country’s NCEMA.

The majority (47 percent) of these violations involved people not wearing masks, while 20.5 percent were associated with shops not following regulations.

People failing to social distance accounted for 17.5 percent of infractions, 8 percent were caused by people flouting limits on car passengers, and 4.5 percent involved gatherings.