Official says vaccine will lead to normalcy

Head of Vaccination at Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Dr. Soha Al Bayat, has said that after over 14 months of living under the fear of outbreak caused due to novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the vaccines will now enable to get our normal lives back.

Speak to a Qatar TV program Al Bayat noted that “Here in Qatar, we are making great progress in the roll out of the vaccination program, but we need at least 80-90% of eligible people to be vaccinated in order to have maximum protection for the entire population.”

Dr. Soho stated: “I urge everyone to take their vaccination appointment when their turn comes and play their part in beating coronavirus. The vaccines do work – our data here in Qatar is conclusive. Since the beginning of 2021, we have had 1,766 COVID-19 admissions to ICU – and just 19 of these patients had been fully vaccinated.”

Dr. Soha said that merely 1% of COVID-19 ICU admissions have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. She said in fact, people who has not received their vaccination yet in all ages in Qatar are 91 times more likely to be hospitalised and admitted in ICU with COVID-19 than people who received their two doses.

Dr. Soho highlighted that “the number of new daily COVID-19 cases has been declining steadily recently. This has led to a significant decrease in the number of people with COVID-19 in hospital. The decline in the number of cases is a result of the current restrictions in place and the fast roll out of the vaccination program.”

Dr. Soho mentioned that “We will ease the current restrictions only when we are sure that the threat of the disease has subsided. More than 1.5 million doses have been administered since the start of the program.”

She said that, “Around 44% of the adult population has now had at least one dose of the vaccine. More than half a million people have now had both doses and are fully vaccinated. Every week, more than 160,000 doses are given,” said Dr. Soha.

She said that the drive through vaccination centers have become successful immensely and as of now, over 170,000 people have received their vaccination at the vaccination centers at Lusail and Al Wakra.

She also outlined that the individuals who received their Covid-19 vaccination may still spread the virus to others in the country as she said: “It is still unknown yet whether the vaccines prevent passing COVID-19 to other people.

“So vaccinated people still have the potential to contract the infection (though they are very unlikely to become sick) and pass it on to others. Additionally, the vaccines aren’t 100% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19,” she added.

Ministry of Public Health Head of Vaccination Dr. Soha Al Bayat COVID-19 Vaccines Qatar News Qatar Day Qatar