Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar has worked diligently to protect the health of its citizens and residents.
Much earlier on in the crisis, the country began implementing a series of preventive and precautionary measures while utilizing the latest technology to ensure the health and wellbeing of its citizens and residents.
With its success in flattening the curve, Qatar gradually moved from phase to phase of its easing of COVID-19 restrictions plan.
As the country continues its fight against the virus, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) earlier confirmed that it had inked an agreement with Pfizer and BioNTech to supply Qatar with their BNT162 mRNA-based candidate vaccine against Sars-CoV-2.
MoPH also announced that this vaccine will be provided to Qatar residents free of charge.
Today, the Ministry revealed that it has locked another deal with a second pharmaceutical company to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is approved and released for global use.
The Ministry of Public Health announced today that it has signed an agreement with a second pharmaceutical company to procure a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is approved and released for global use. #QNA pic.twitter.com/27TySpzMhy
— Qatar News Agency (@QNAEnglish) October 25, 2020
Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Dr Abdullatif Al Khal said that the new agreement is with Moderna, a Massachusetts-based biotech company.
"Moderna has been working since the early days of the pandemic on the development and testing of a COVID-19 vaccine. Preliminary findings from Moderna's phase 1 and 2 clinical trials have shown that healthy adults produced coronavirus neutralizing antibodies and an immune reaction from T-cells. While further testing is ongoing on thousands of volunteers, these initial findings are encouraging and demonstrate that clear progress is being made in the search for a safe and effective vaccine," Dr Al Khal said.
"The signing of the agreement with Moderna is a significant step forward in our country's efforts to procure a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine for the people of Qatar and comes following the announcement of our first agreement with a leading pharmaceutical company earlier this month," Dr Al Khal added.
"We continue to work with several leading pharmaceutical companies around the world who are in the process of developing potential vaccines for COVID-19. Our aim is to ensure that we have early access to the vaccines as soon as they demonstrate safety and efficacy and after they are approved by the appropriate international regulatory authorities," he highlighted.
He further mentioned that there is a possibility that some of these vaccines may not be as effective.
However, "negotiating early and securing a number of agreements enhances our chances of getting sufficient quantities of the vaccine early on at a time where there will be a huge global demand for approved COVID-19 vaccines," he said.
Here's everything you need to know about COVID-19, including ways to protect yourself.
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