Healthcare leaders urge the non-vaccinated to get inoculated soon

Healthcare leaders in the country are encouraging those who are yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to get immunised at the earliest. ‘Play your part in enabling life to return towards normal by getting vaccinated against Covid-19 when it is your turn’ is the slogan of the initiative. They have shared encouraging messages through the social media accounts of the Ministry of Public Health to ensure that every eligible person in the country gets vaccinated so that life in the country can return to normal as early as possible.Dr Abdullatif al-Khal, chair of the National Health Strategic Group on Covid-19 and head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation expressed his happiness that a large number of people have already got vaccinated. “Among our eligible population of 12 years and above, seven out of ten are fully vaccinated and eight out of ten have got at least one dose. However it is unfortunate that still there are people who are eligible for vaccine because of their age or chronic diseases who have not come forward yet to get it.”“The new variants of the virus are more contagious and serious so it is more important than ever to get vaccinated. I would ask these people to think about the way in which the virus has affected our lives negatively for more than a year and half and ask them to understand that the vaccines provide a route out of this pandemic,” he cautioned. Dr Hamad al-Romaihi, co-chairperson of the National Pandemic Preparedness Committee and director of Health Protection and Communicable Diseases at MoPH, said that one more push is needed to protect the country’s population from any future rise in cases or new variants.“The vast majority of eligible people have received at least one dose of vaccine but the evidence is clear that the more people that are vaccinated from the virus, the greater our chances of winning the long-term battle against Covid-19. If you are not vaccinated, please act now,” he advised.According to Dr Mariam AbdulMalik, managing director of Primary Health Care Corporation, 84% of people over 12 years have now received at least one dose of the vaccine but there is a small minority of people who have not vaccinated.“To ensure that Qatar’s population is as protected as possible from Covid-19, we need as many people as possible to play their part and get vaccinated. Please get vaccinated, protect yourself and your loved ones and the community,” she said.Dr Muna al-Maslamani, medical director of HMC’s Communicable Disease Center said that the widespread vaccination has helped to keep constantly the new cases low in Qatar in the recent weeks.“Clinical evidence here in Qatar shows that the vaccines are highly effective. There have been very few examples in the recent months where fully vaccinated people were admitted to hospital with Covid-19. If you are not vaccinated, please play your part in beating Covid-19, helping us return to normal life as soon as possible and making Qatar a safer place to live for you and your family,” she said.