China’s Sinopharm vaccine is being offered to a handful of wealthy people paying for access to the United Arab Emirates’ Covid-19 vaccination programme as part of a partnership to “bring tourism into the area”, according to an exclusive London club that claims to be brokering the service.

The vaccine is in wide usage in the UAE but is yet to receive emergency approval from the UK government or the World Health Organization. The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, also approved in the Emirates, is not included in the pay-to-access deal.

The offer is the first apparent evidence to surface of a state using its Covid-19 vaccine supplies as a selling point to foreign tourists, amid a global scarcity of doses and calls to share the resource with vulnerable people and health workers around the world.

The UAE health ministry, its national media office and the Dubai tourism authority did not respond to questions.