By Rusieljs G. Lunasco

A native of Santa Barbara, Ramon Sunico has been working as an ICU nurse in the UAE for three years.

Ramon Francisco Sonico (BSN 2008) is one of 15,000 people from 107 nationalities to volunteer in the United Arab Emirates’ and Sinopharm’s Phase III COVID-19 inactivated vaccine trial.

Sonico, an ICU nurse in a hospital, first heard of the clinical trials on social media. Two weeks after he registered for the program, he got the news that he was approved for the trials.

“I got my first shot yesterday of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (vero cell) developed by Sinopharm and approved by DOH to carry out clinical trials in accordance with UAE regulations. UAE is very confident to find solutions to fight COVID,” Sonico said in Facebook status posted on August 9.

Sonico has been working as a nurse in UAE for three years.

He also said he hopes the trial will make a positive result and make the world COVID-free.