Qatar has been giving its all to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country has been successfully running its National COVID-19 Vaccination Program since December 2020.

​The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has announced the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program reached a significant milestone yesterday with 50.1 percent of adults in Qatar having now received at least one vaccine dose. 

To date, 1,876,178 doses have been administered since the start of the program, with 1,137,843 people having received at least one vaccine dose, while 738,335 people (32.7) percent of the adult population) are already fully vaccinated with two doses.

The National COVID-19 Vaccination Program is progressing at pace.

The availability of more vaccines as well as the opening of additional vaccination centers has enabled Qatar to significantly increase the pace of the vaccination program since February, and last week more than 200,000 doses were administered over a seven-day period.

Almost 9 out of 10 people over 60 years of age – the most vulnerable members of the community have now received at least one dose, with nearly 8 out of 10 having received two doses.

Qatar is among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of vaccine coverage per population.

MoPH stated that it is very encouraging that there is clear evidence that the vaccines are protecting people from developing symptoms of COVID and becoming ill.

Data up to the end of April in Qatar showed that just 1 percent of COVID-19 ICU admissions have been for fully vaccinated people and in Qatar, non-vaccinated people of all ages are 91 times more likely to be admitted to ICU with COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people.

Additionally, a study undertaken here in Qatar and published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that for fully vaccinated people – 14 days after receiving the second dose – vaccination is 89.5 percent effective at preventing infection from the UK variant and 75 percent effective at preventing infection from the South African variant, both are considered very high.

The same study also found vaccination to be 97.4 percent effective in preventing severe, critical, or fatal disease due to both the UK and South African variants. 

Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) teams continue to directly contact people who are eligible by SMS or phone call to arrange their appointment.

Earlier this week, the MoPH announced the details of the plan to gradually lift the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of COVID-19 over four phases with each phase lasting three weeks.

In a joint press conference with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) on Sunday evening, the MoPH said that the first phase of the plan for the gradual lifting of restrictions will start on May 28.

It may start on May 23 if the public adhered to the health requirements during the blessed Eid Al Fitr and health indicators allow that. The second phase will start on June 18, the third on July 9, and the fourth on July 30.

Yesterday, HMC announced the working hours for QNCC Vaccination Center during the Eid holidays.

Anyone wishing to register their interest in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine can do so via the MoPH website. 

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Source: MoPH