Indian variant not detected in Qatar: Dr. Al Khal

(MENAFN - The Peninsula) Doha: Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), has said the Indian variant of the coronavirus has not been detected in Qatar.  Speaking during a press conference on Qatar TV to address the COVID-19 situation in Qatar, Dr. Al Khal said over 1.7 million vaccine doses have been administered since the start of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program. He urged citizens and residents to take the vaccines to facilitate the lifting of restrictions that will begin in phases from May 28.  ''Qatar is among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of vaccine coverage for the size of its population,” Dr. Al Khal said. The plan to gradually lift restrictions will be delivered over four phases, with each phase lasting three weeks.  ''The date of implementation and the duration of each phase will depend on the pandemic indicators that rely significantly on the degree of compliance of the community members with the current measures, restrictions, and guidance by the government,” he added. ''The first phase of the gradual lifting has been decided to start on May 28 with possibility of bringing it to May 23 if people adhered to the preventive measures. Dr. Al Khal pointed out that the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has established a unit to schedule vaccination appointments to support lifting restrictions. He stressed that priority would be given to people who provide direct services to the public, such as workers in beauty salons, barbers, restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, and other hospitality services facilities.  Dr. Al Khal has urged people to take the vaccine, as it is effective and safe.  ''It is very encouraging that we are seeing clear evidence that the vaccines are protecting people from developing symptoms of COVID-19 and becoming ill. The next phases of the plan to lift restrictions will include privileges for those who have been vaccinated. They can dine out and will be given priority at sports centres, among others.”  A study undertaken in Qatar and published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that for fully vaccinated people — 14 days after receiving the second dose, vaccination is 97.4 percent effective in preventing severe, critical, or fatal disease due to the UK and South African variants.  ''These statistics are very promising and give good cause to be optimistic about a return towards normal life once we have vaccinated around 80-90% of the eligible population in Qatar,” he said. The restrictions imposed in the last weeks have proven their success in the number of daily infected cases and those entering intensive care. However, Dr. Al Khal warned against complacency. ''We still need to be cautious as we are not out of the second wave yet, and we are still dealing with two highly contagious and highly virulent strains of the virus that are actively circulating in the community.” On Qatar’s quarantine policy, he said, ''Our quarantine policy for anyone entering Qatar has been one of the strictest of its kind in the world and proved to be effective in detecting those infected and quickly isolating them. It delays the introduction and spread of new variants into Qatar.”    MENAFN10052021000063011010ID1102055740