(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Doha: With a fast vaccination pace adopted by the Ministry of Public Health in the last many weeks, Qatar is likely to cross administering 2 million vaccine doses milestone today.
So far Qatar has administered 1,976,748 COVID-19 vaccine doses under National COVID-19 Vaccination Program. In the last five days, over 30, 000 vaccine doses were administered in the country on daily basis which reflects that Qatar is set to cross administering 2 million vaccine doses today.
According to data released by the Ministry yesterday, 32,120 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in 24 hours.
Currently, 51.5% of the eligible population of the country has received at least one dose of the vaccine. 88.3% of over 60s (the most vulnerable population group) have been vaccinated with at least one dose, while 82.3% have received both doses.
With a rise in number of vaccinated people, the number of new cases is also declining in the state as 244 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were announced yesterday; 151 of them are from community cases while 93 from travellers returning from abroad.
In addition, the Ministry also announced two new deaths aged 56 and 74 years of age yesterday, all of which had a history of chronic disease and all were receiving the necessary medical care.
The Ministry of Public Health has also recently announced that all people aged 30 and above will be eligible to receive the vaccine after the Eid holidays. It also extended the validity for quarantine exemption of all vaccines administered in Qatar from the previously approved six months to nine months (except for six specific countries).
The inclusion of people aged 30 and above in national vaccination program will further increase number of vaccinated people in the country giving mass protection to society.
Meanwhile, children aged from 12 to 15 years are to be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Qatar. Parents will be able to register their children to take the vaccine through the Ministry of Public Health website (www.moph.gov.qa) from tomorrow (Sunday), after which they will be contacted by the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC).
Offering the vaccine to 12-15-year-olds in Qatar will help to ensure a return to greater normality when the school year starts this coming September.
Commenting on vaccination of 12-15-year-olds, Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, recently said
''Getting our young people vaccinated will not only protect them against the virus but will give us the opportunity to have less restrictions in schools in the future and may significantly reduce the interruptions to the education system that we have seen at times during the pandemic.”
As new coronavirus cases are declining in the country, Qatar has also announced phased easing of COVID-19 restrictions from May 28. The gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, over four phases, will take place with a planned gap of three weeks.
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