Qatar to expand scale of national vaccination program against COVID-19
Qatar has been successfully running its National COVID-19 Vaccination Program since December 2020.
Under the first phase of the program (earlier announced to run until March this year), priority is for the elderly, long-term care and home care patients (aged 70 and above), people with severe or multiple conditions, healthcare professionals (in facilities designated for COVID-19 patients), and key personnel and first responders.
Recently, teachers and school administration staff were added to the current priority list and a temporary COVID-19 Vaccination Center was launched at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) to accelerate the vaccination drive.
Earlier this week, a drive-through vaccination facility was also introduced for people to take their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Now, as the country looks to further expand the scale of its vaccination program, MoPH has reduced the age limit for the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to 50 years.
MOPH has announced that it has lowered the age threshold for COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to 50 years of age
— وزارة الصحة العامة (@MOPHQatar) March 3, 2021
The change comes as MOPH ramp up the National Strategic National Vaccination Plan against COVID-19. and to expand the program to include more vaccinated people in Qatar pic.twitter.com/jRVAIiEUtf
“The change comes as the MoPH ramp up the National Strategic National Vaccination Plan against COVID-19 and to expand the program to include more vaccinated people in the country,” MoPH said in a tweet.
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, “With the initial imported supply of vaccines limited, the early stages of our National Vaccination Program focused on protecting members of our community who were most at risk from severe complications due to COVID-19.
“We have recently received a regular supply of the vaccine, more than before, and with the availability of the Moderna vaccine along with the Pfizer vaccine, we can significantly expand the scale of our vaccination program and open the eligibility criteria to include more people in line with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH)'s Strategic Vaccination Plan against COVID-19.”
PHCC will directly contact those who are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine at present through SMS or phone call to arrange their appointment, Dr Mariam Abdulmalik, managing director of Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) reminded.
“Those who meet the criteria for the first priority groups can also request to schedule an appointment website to take the vaccine via the MoPH COVID-19 website,” she said.
“People who register online but who are not in one of the listed priority groups will have their interest recorded and saved by the MoPH, and they will be contacted when they become eligible,” she added.
Other community members have been asked to wait until it's their turn. Under the country’s vaccination strategy, "Everyone who needs to be vaccinated will be able to do so throughout the year," MoPH had confirmed earlier.
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