Medical Director of Hamad General Hospital Dr Yousef Al Maslamani has confirmed that there is no relationship between black fungus disease and infection with the coronavirus. He explained that the black fungus is widespread throughout the world and is associated with weak immunity. “The fungi are present all over the world, not only India, and sometimes they are in soil, farms or on rotten food. Not every virus, fungus or bacteria causes symptoms, depending on the person’s immunity. Fungi are parasitic organisms looking for a person with weak immunity, who takes immunity drugs or has diabetes. The black fungus is linked to weak immunity, and is not related to corona infection, and the coronavirus has nothing to do with this fungus,” Dr Al Maslamani told Qatar TV.

He said that people who have recovered from COVID-19 will be treated in the same way as the vaccinated people when it comes to travel policies. As for the vaccinated citizens and residents of the GCC countries with the six vaccines specified by the Ministry of Health, he said they are also treated in the way as citizens and residents of Qatar with regard to travel and return policies. This requires 14 days to pass from their vaccination, provided that they come with a certificate proving that they have had the vaccination and a PCR examination, he added.

Regarding quarantine for people who have recovered from coronavirus, Dr Al Maslamani said, “In Qatar, vaccinated people have immunity validity for a period of nine months. As for the GCC, a full vaccination is required, and 14 days must have passed after the vaccination.” He said recovered patients are subject to vaccination and they will not be quarantined upon return if nine months have not passed since the last infection, provided they bring a negative PCR report. As for the Chinese vaccine approved in some Gulf countries, he said the only Chinese vaccine approved in Qatar is Sinopharma. He said whether the person received the vaccine or not, he will be quarantined upon his return from one of the six countries in which the Asian strain is spread.

On the validity of the vaccine, Dr Al Maslamani confirmed that the vaccine has validity for 9 months and if scientific studies prove that it extends to a year or years, policies will be changed. He said vaccines in Qatar are effective against corona mutants, including the Asian strain, according to recent scientific studies. As for the Hajj season, Dr Al Maslamani said, “If one of the conditions of Hajj is vaccination, then it is an excellent thing, meaning that 95 percent of the pilgrims will have immunity, and we always advise against traveling until things stabilise in all countries of the world and reach the vaccination of the largest number of people in the world.”