Doha: During an Instagram live Q&A session, Dr Soha Al Bayat. Head of Vaccination, Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) answered several queries from people regarding the on Covid-19 vaccine.
“Protect yourself to protect others around you,” she said while encouraging everyone to take the Pfizer and BioNTtech Covid-19 vaccine, though it is not compulsory.
“It’s optional, you have the right to say yes or no: But we highly encourage you to take the vaccine to keep yourself safe and the community,” she said during a live session hosted by the Ministry on Instagram.
While answering a question from the public that if the vaccine will work for the new strain found in UK she replied that “as per the scientific data and manufactures evidence has not shown that the new strain is different from the old strain, just the way it is transmitting is a little different. We are told based on the scientific information the current vaccine should also work for the new strain.”
The vaccine will be available for everyone in Qatar – citizens and residents and its free for all.
To a question that if taking vaccine is okay for asthma patients, she said: “If you have severe chronic bronchial asthma or severe asthma, you are a target group for taking the Covid-19 vaccine, because if you catch the infection it could cause complications.”
The vaccine does not impact your genetics, it will not enter the nucleus where the DNA is stored. All that you hear about modifying your genes or changing your DNA is not possible. The MRNA – messenger RNA – has no ability to enter the nucleus and sufficient testing had been done to prove the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
Dr Al-Bayat also emphasized and reassured that the Pfizer and BioNTtech Covid-19 vaccine is safe and has passed all the regulatory approvals.
“People around the world and those who took the vaccine in Qatar today have not shown any serious side effects,” she said.
Qatar started administering the vaccine from this morning and in the first phase of vaccination from December 23 to January 31, preference will be given to people over 70 years old, adults in chronic care and home care facilities, healthcare personnel most at risk of infection and people over 16 years of age with severe chronic diseases.
“If you are eligible to get the vaccine you will be notified to fix an appointment or you can call your health centre,” she said.
Dr Al-Bayat said that they aim to vaccinate around 70 percent of the population to reach herd immunity in which the population can be protected from the virus when a threshold of vaccination is reached.
