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Tribune News Network
Doha
There’s hope that a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine will be made available by the end of this year or in the first three months of next year, a top health official has said.
“We, in Qatar, hope that by the end of this year or during the first three months of next year, the vaccinations we need will be available in Qatar,” Dr Abdullatif Al Khal, Chair of the National Strategic Group on COVID-19, told Al Kass TV.
There are seven vaccines in the third phase of clinical trial worldwide.
Dr Al Khal, who is also the head of the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation, said, “These vaccines have shown their effectiveness in stimulating the body’s immunity and creating antibodies. They are also proven to be safe in the current stage. The final results of the clinical trials of these vaccines will be known between October-end and mid-December.”
He added, “Once these vaccines are proven to be effective and safe, they will be given official accreditation from global health authorities such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA). Then the companies will distribute the vaccine worldwide,” Dr Al Khal said.
“Before the emergence of coronavirus, we needed between 5 and 10 years to produce a new vaccine. But due to the severity of the coronavirus, there was a need to accelerate the manufacture of the vaccine,” he said, adding that speeding up the process of manufacturing a vaccine should not be at the expense of the safety.
He said the situation in Qatar is much better than it was during the peak of the epidemic.
In recent weeks, the number of daily COVID-19 cases ranges between 200 and 250, he added.
The number of patients requiring acute and intensive care has also been declined.
The number of people requiring hospitalization ranged between 30 or 50 cases per day and the number of patients needing intensive care is now about two to 5 cases daily.
Dr Al Khal said, “The situation in general is reassuring, but the spread of the virus among Qataris and expatriate professionals is a cause of concern. And these two groups include the people that most likely to suffer from complications of the virus -- the elderly and those with chronic diseases.”
He pointed out that during the peak of the epidemic most of the infections were among young workers. “Most of the COVID-19 cases have been recovered and many cases have mild symptoms. Only a limited percentage have severe symptoms and need to be hospitalised,” he said.
Dr Al Khal said the Ministry of Public Health is conducting daily epidemiological investigations and contact tracing of infected cases.
“It was found that most of the infections in recent times are among members of the same family. In most of the cases, the main source of infection is a family member who attended a gathering or family party,” Dr Al Khal said, adding that “when an individual contracts the virus, he spreads it among members of his family, and through family visits, the virus continues to spread.”
Dr Al Khal said it very important to adhere to preventive and precautionary measures such as wearing a face mask and maintaining social distance.
“These measures will certainly help break the chain of virus transmission. But unfortunately many people are not committed to these precautionary measures during their family visits,” he regretted.
Dr Al Khal said the Ministry of Public Health is currently following 9 indicators, and in case there’s an increase in the spread of the virus, the ministry will recommend the Council of Ministers to return to implementing the measures that were applied in the previous stages.
Doha
There’s hope that a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine will be made available by the end of this year or in the first three months of next year, a top health official has said.
“We, in Qatar, hope that by the end of this year or during the first three months of next year, the vaccinations we need will be available in Qatar,” Dr Abdullatif Al Khal, Chair of the National Strategic Group on COVID-19, told Al Kass TV.
There are seven vaccines in the third phase of clinical trial worldwide.
Dr Al Khal, who is also the head of the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation, said, “These vaccines have shown their effectiveness in stimulating the body’s immunity and creating antibodies. They are also proven to be safe in the current stage. The final results of the clinical trials of these vaccines will be known between October-end and mid-December.”
He added, “Once these vaccines are proven to be effective and safe, they will be given official accreditation from global health authorities such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA). Then the companies will distribute the vaccine worldwide,” Dr Al Khal said.
“Before the emergence of coronavirus, we needed between 5 and 10 years to produce a new vaccine. But due to the severity of the coronavirus, there was a need to accelerate the manufacture of the vaccine,” he said, adding that speeding up the process of manufacturing a vaccine should not be at the expense of the safety.
He said the situation in Qatar is much better than it was during the peak of the epidemic.
In recent weeks, the number of daily COVID-19 cases ranges between 200 and 250, he added.
The number of patients requiring acute and intensive care has also been declined.
The number of people requiring hospitalization ranged between 30 or 50 cases per day and the number of patients needing intensive care is now about two to 5 cases daily.
Dr Al Khal said, “The situation in general is reassuring, but the spread of the virus among Qataris and expatriate professionals is a cause of concern. And these two groups include the people that most likely to suffer from complications of the virus -- the elderly and those with chronic diseases.”
He pointed out that during the peak of the epidemic most of the infections were among young workers. “Most of the COVID-19 cases have been recovered and many cases have mild symptoms. Only a limited percentage have severe symptoms and need to be hospitalised,” he said.
Dr Al Khal said the Ministry of Public Health is conducting daily epidemiological investigations and contact tracing of infected cases.
“It was found that most of the infections in recent times are among members of the same family. In most of the cases, the main source of infection is a family member who attended a gathering or family party,” Dr Al Khal said, adding that “when an individual contracts the virus, he spreads it among members of his family, and through family visits, the virus continues to spread.”
Dr Al Khal said it very important to adhere to preventive and precautionary measures such as wearing a face mask and maintaining social distance.
“These measures will certainly help break the chain of virus transmission. But unfortunately many people are not committed to these precautionary measures during their family visits,” he regretted.
Dr Al Khal said the Ministry of Public Health is currently following 9 indicators, and in case there’s an increase in the spread of the virus, the ministry will recommend the Council of Ministers to return to implementing the measures that were applied in the previous stages.
