'No Omicron variant in Qatar'

No cases of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron have been confirmed in Qatar, said Dr. Hamad Eid al-Romaihi, director of the Department of Health Protection and Control of Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).

"The ministry is working to monitor any such cases while following up the global scenario regarding the new variant," he told an an interview with Al Rayyan TV yesterday.

With regard to the latest developments in the booster dose administering, the official said that there is a high turnout of public to take the third dose. He noted that during this week alone about 35,000 third doses were given.

Dr al-Romaihi urged not to pay attention towards rumors claiming vaccination causes health complications while stressing that there are no serious cases or complications.

"Of course, there are some minor complications such as pain at the vaccination site or high temperature. And these symptoms are normal and common," he explained.

The official said the ministry has chalked out a programme to monitor the side effects of vaccination, based on the reports of health centres.

Dr al-Romaihi advised the public, especially eligible groups, to take the booster dose because the epidemiological situation around the world is changing.

"We have seen several countries that have re-imposed strict measures due to the increase in infections as well as because of the new mutant, but the situation in Qatar, thankfully, is stable. This is due to the high vaccination coverage rate, of more than 85%. This contributes to repelling any spread within the country, and strengthening these measures is by taking the third booster dose of the vaccine," he explained.

"Qatar always provides safe and effective vaccines and the efficiency of vaccination in preventing severe complications and death is up to 95%.

"The third dose is the same components as the first and second doses. Take information only from the official source, which is MoPH," he added.

 

 

As seen on GulfTimes  Image Credits GulfTimes