HE Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al-Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, spoke at 'The Economics of Ecology and Public Health' session of the Qatar Economic Forum powered by Bloomberg yesterday.

During the session, the Minister stated that restrictions will remain and target unvaccinated individuals until the coronavirus has been suppressed globally.

Moreover, she stressed the importance of testing as a way to ensure the safe reopening of different businesses and economic activities.

She pointed out that currently, the global scale of vaccination levels has yet to reach the stage where the coronavirus has been suppressed.

“Therefore, it is important to protect the community through several restrictions as well as additional tests,” she noted. “Testing, along with the prevailing restrictions, is a very safe way for opening up businesses in unvaccinated areas.”

The Minister expressed hope that Qatar could reach herd immunity, especially given that while the coronavirus vaccine markedly limits the transmissibility of the virus, it does not eliminate it altogether.

She also pointed out that the Ministry of Public Health is currently working on how things will look like post-testing and herd immunity, adding that she is optimistic regarding the prospects that most countries can reach the required level of vaccination.

“We hope that the restrictions can be eased when we reach herd immunity,” said the Minister. “We have the evidence now that vaccination does significantly reduce the spread of the virus.”

“We are optimistic that with most countries reaching a sufficient level of vaccination, we will see less and less testing, fewer restrictions, and more opening up of countries and economies,” she added.

According to the Minister, Qatar was keen to procure safe and effective vaccines since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She explained that HE the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani had directed MoPH to procure these vaccines, after which, a thorough study was conducted on the available vaccines.

HE Dr. Al-Kuwari stated that the Ministry found that Pfizer and Moderna were both promising, as well as AstraZeneca.

After discussing with relevant pharmaceutical companies, Qatar was able to procure the much necessary vaccines to vaccinate its population and also support the global drive on vaccination.

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Source: Gulf Times