Health Minister meets first two people to get the COVID-19 vaccine in Qatar
Qatar has been successfully running the first phase of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign since December 23, 2020.
So far, thousands of people, including His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, several dignitaries, as well as 10 percent of the priority group during the first phase have been vaccinated already.
Yesterday, Her Excellency Qatar’s Minister of Public Health, Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari met with the first two people who got the COVID-19 vaccine in Qatar.
The two people are Dr Abdulla Al Kubaisi and Dr Mohammed Frazat.
“Qatar was among the first countries in the world to provide a safe, effective and approved COVID-19 vaccine for its population and the vaccinations of Dr Al Kubaisi and Dr Frazat signaled the launch of Qatar’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Wednesday 23 December,” Dr Al Kuwari said.
“The campaign has seen thousands of the most at-risk members of the community and healthcare workers receive the vaccine in the first week and a half,” she added.
The Health Minister further said that she was delighted to meet the first two recipients of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, who are “now advocating the vaccine to other at-risk members of the community.”
“I would like to thank everyone who has received the vaccine for taking action to protect themselves and for playing their part in ending this pandemic,” she said.
“Clinical trials have shown that the vaccine becomes fully effective only after one week of receiving the second dose and people who have had the first dose are still at risk of catching the virus and should continue to apply the preventive measures,” she added.
The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Qatar is set to continue until January 31, 2021.
During this phase, three priority groups are eligible for vaccinations. These include: 1. People aged 65 years and above. 2. People with severe chronic conditions. 3. Healthcare workers with repeated exposure to COVID-19.
Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal who also attended the meeting, said that the response to Qatar’s COVID-19 vaccination drive has been “very encouraging.”
“Every day, more and more people in the most high-risk priority groups are being vaccinated against the virus. As greater numbers of eligible people receive their vaccinations – including many prominent members of society and senior health officials who meet the eligibility criteria – this is helping to build trust among the population in the safety of the vaccine,” Dr Al Khal highlighted.
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