The MoPH also said the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme reached a significant milestone on Tuesday with 50.1% of adults in the country having now received at least one vaccine dose, according to a Qatar News Agency report.
To date, 1,876,178 doses have been administered since the start of the programme, with 1,137,843 people having received at least one vaccine dose, while 738,335 people are fully vaccinated with two doses.
The National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme is progressing at a rapid pace. The availability of more vaccines as well as the opening of additional vaccination centres has enabled Qatar to significantly increase the pace of the vaccination programme since February, and last week more than 200,000 doses were administered over a seven-day period.
Almost nine 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 eight out of 10 having received two doses. Qatar is among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of vaccine coverage per population.
The MoPH said it is very encouraging that there is clear evidence that the vaccines are protecting people from developing symptoms of Covid-19 and becoming ill. Data up to the end of April in Qatar showed that just 1% of Covid-19 ICU admissions have been for fully vaccinated people. Also, non-vaccinated people of all ages are 91 times more likely to be admitted to ICU with Covid-19 in Qatar than fully vaccinated people.
Additionally, a study undertaken in Qatar and published recently in 'The New England Journal of Medicine' showed that for fully vaccinated people, 14 days after receiving the second dose vaccination is 89.5% effective at preventing infection from the UK variant and 75% effective at preventing infection from the South African variant, both are considered very high.
The same study also found vaccination to be 97.4% 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, https://app-covid19.moph.gov.qa/en/instructions.html
To support the gradual easing of restrictions, the 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 Programme. The Unit supports the vaccination of workers in all businesses, but prioritisation 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 - and not individuals - can contact the Unit directly at VCIAhamad.qa to schedule vaccination appointments for their staff.
