Dubai bets on speedy vaccine rollout to keep Expo 2020 on track

Dubai bets on speedy vaccine rollout to keep Expo 2020 on track

Dubai is hoping one of the world's fastest vaccination programmes and rapid testing technology will help achieve its goal of holding the Expo 2020 event this year, after the coronavirus pandemic forced a delay.

The government is confident inoculation programmes will be successful enough to open the Expo on October 1 and says it's still possible that 25 million people will visit the city for the six-month event.

The Expo, which Dubai has been preparing for a decade, is meant to be one of the biggest events globally this year and generate billions of dollars for the government. The resurgence of the virus in recent months has complicated the planning and led to questions about whether it will have to be downsized.

Tokyo, which is set to host the Olympics in July, is facing similar issues, though authorities there also insist the event will go ahead.

"It is just not realistic to change your target number yet because your factors are super fluid,“ Expo 2020 Director General Reem Al Hashimi said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "We've rolled out vaccinations in the UAE very aggressively, but so have many other countries around the world.“

The United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a