Health official urges vulnerable groups to get vaccinated soon

Those who are eligible for the vaccination against Covid-19 - especially people aged 65 and above, children aged 12 to 15 and pregnant women - should get inoculated at the earliest, a senior official has urged.

"We are focusing more on these three groups," said Dr Soha al-Bayat, head of Vaccination at the Ministry of Public Health, in a video message posted on official social media accounts.Highlighting that the community has shown great response to the National Vaccine Campaign against Covid-19, Dr al-Bayat said about 85% of the eligible population -12 years and above - has received at least one dose of vaccine. "Still we need more and each person who takes vaccine is a step forward to a safer community and going back to normal life in the country.”‘So far nine out of 10 elderly people have taken the vaccine but that is not enough. We need all of them to take the vaccine as they are at the highest risk of complications of the infection," said Dr al-Bayat. The official noted that thousands of pregnant women around the world have taken the vaccine without any noticeable serious side effects.“Pregnant women are likely to have more complications from Covid-19 than any women of their same age. That is why we encourage all the pregnant women to take the vaccine to protect themselves," she explained.According to the official, children aged 12 to 15 are another group that needs to get vaccinated . “Though they have less complications from the infection of Covid-19, they have longer period of infection and they are likely to transmit the disease to others. So, we encourage the parents to get their children vaccinated especially that the schools are to be opened for the new academic year soon and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our children in their classes,” she added.