(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Doha: The Ministry of Public Health has announced the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program reached a significant milestone today 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 and 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 teams continue to directly contact people who are eligible by SMS or phone call to arrange their appointment. Anyone wishing to register their interest in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine can do so via the MOPH website
To support the gradual easing of restrictions MOPH has set up a COVID-19 Vaccination Scheduling Unit (VSU) for the vaccination of business workers in support of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program. The Unit supports the vaccination of workers in all businesses, but prioritization would be given to key businesses that are in direct contact with the rest of the community such as barber and hairdresser salons, restaurants, retail shops, supermarkets, hotels and other hospitality services. Businesses not individuals - can contact the Unit directly to schedule vaccination appointments for their staff: VCIAhamad.qa
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