Qatar has gone above and beyond to protect its citizens and residents in its fight against COVID-19.

From ensuring the availability of dedicated facilities for COVID-19 testing and management and laying down strict preventive and precautionary measures to procuring safe and reliable COVID-19 vaccines for its population, the country has been giving its all to tackle the situation.

Under Qatar’s National COVID-19 Vaccination Program, launched in December 2020, so far 18.2 percent of the country’s adult population (16 years and above) has already gotten one dose of the vaccine.

Vaccinated individuals have been asked to comply with the recommended precautionary and preventive measures.

The Medical Director of the Communicable Disease Center at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Dr Muna Al Maslamani, highlighted in a post on Twitter that extensive clinical trials on the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines show both vaccines are around 95 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infection after two doses.

Extensive clinical trials on the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines show both vaccines are around 95 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infection after two doses, with maximum protection developing around 10-14 days after the second dose. pic.twitter.com/EfW9OcuFqK

— مؤسسة حمد الطبية (@HMC_Qatar) March 22, 2021

The maximum protection develops around 10 to 14 days after taking the second dose, she added.

“This means the vaccines are very effective at preventing people from becoming sick due to the virus. However, people can still contract COVID-19 and have the virus with no symptoms,” Dr Al Maslamani said.

“This is a very high and encouraging efficacy level but it is important to note that no vaccine is 100 percent effective,” she underlined.

She further mentioned that while the vaccines are 95 percent effective, “there may still be a very small number of people, around 5 percent, who receive the vaccine and still become sick due to COVID-19.”

The senior health official added that until there is additional information on the ability of vaccines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, “it is important that vaccinated people follow all preventive measures.”

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Cover Image Credit: PHCC