HE Minister of Public Health Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari said that the inauguration of Qatar Vaccination Center for Business and Industry Sector, which began operations today, highlights Qatars commitment to continuing the fast roll-out of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program which has seen a noticeable increase in the number of vaccinated people.

"At the start of the year we announced a phased plan to deliver the vaccination program and committed to vaccinating all eligible members of the population throughout 2021. Thanks to the hard work of healthcare staff and the overwhelming support of the public, we are now ahead of where we planned to be in terms of vaccination coverage. However, we remain committed to vaccinating as many eligible members of our community as possible and I encourage anyone who is offered an appointment to accept it without delay and get protected," Her Excellency added, during her visit to the center today.

For his part, Dr. Khalid Abdulnoor, who is the Senior Consultant Emergency Medicine at Hamad Medical Corporation and lead for the Qatar Vaccination Center for Business and Industry Sector said that "the new center is dedicated to vaccinating key business and industry workers which plays an important role in supporting the safe roll-out of Qatars phased plan to lift COVID-19 restrictions. Covering more than 300,000 square meters, this is probably the largest vaccination center in the world, with more than 300 vaccination stations and 700 staff providing capacity to administer more than 25,000 doses a day."

"To date, more than 300,000 key business and industry workers have already been vaccinated as part of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program, with many of these receiving their vaccination at the Vaccination Center Industrial Area, which opened at the start of April," he added.

With the opening of the new Qatar Vaccination Center for Business and Industry Sector significantly boosting capacity of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program, the two drive-through vaccination centers and the vaccination center at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) will close over the next two weeks. More than 320,000 people have visited the drive-through centers for their second dose vaccines, but with summer temperatures continuing to rise, conditions have become very challenging for staff and service users.

Managing Director of Primary Healthcare Corporation Dr. Mariam Abdulmalik said: "the vaccination center at the Qatar National Convention Center was initially set up to prioritize the vaccination of teachers and school staff. Since opening in February, more than 600,000 people teachers, school staff and many other eligible members of the community - have been vaccinated at the center."

"With the new Qatar Vaccination Center for Business and Industry Sector providing capacity for more than 25,000 doses a day, and continuing capacity for 15,000 doses a day across our 27 health centers, the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program maintains capacity for up to 40,000 doses a day," explained Dr. Abdulmalik.

For his part, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, who is the Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of Infectious Diseases at HMC, encouraged anyone not yet vaccinated to play their part in getting back towards normality by accepting their vaccine appointment invitation when eligible.

"The efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines is exceptional beyond what we could realistically have hoped for this time last year. Real-world clinical evidence shows the vaccines to be more than 95 percent effective at preventing severe sickness due to COVID-19. For the small minority of people who have been offered a vaccination appointment, but not yet accepted the offer, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. It is important that you protect yourself; protect your loved ones; and help us get back to normal," he said.

The new facility, one of the largest vaccination centers in the world, is the result of a collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Health Care Corporation and Qatar Charity, with support from the Ministry of Interior and ConocoPhillips-Qatar. The Center is one of multiple vaccination centers that have been established to ensure the Qatars vaccination program is delivered at speed.

(QNA)