Doha: The age limit for the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination in the country has further been lowered, a top health official has said, while expressing hope that sufficient number of people will be vaccinated by summer.
“For non-Qataris the age limit is reduced to 50 years and above or those with complicated chronic illness; and for Qataris all age groups. Hopefully soon the next phase will be announced and non-Qataris also will have a lower age group,” said Head of Vaccination at MoPH Dr. Soha Al Bayat during an Instagram live Q&A session yesterday.
She urged everyone to register on the Ministry's website to receive the vaccine. “If you haven’t registered yet on the website that was announced weeks ago please go ahead and register or book an appointment with your health centre to receive the vaccine,” said Dr. Al Bayat. “The online registration will facilitate when you meet the requirements of priority groups to get an appointment to receive the vaccine,” she said.
She also expressed hope that sufficient number of people will be vaccinated by summer this year against COVID-19 around the world and in Qatar.
In reply to a question, Dr. Al Bayat said, “To be honest we still don’t know for how long we will have to live with COVID-19. But by summer, we hope that the majority of the population across the world will receive the vaccine and make it very difficult for it to transmit from one person to the other.
“And most probably based on the scientific data we have, it may become something that we live with like the flu. But it will be weaker and much more under control and no longer a pandemic.” Dr. Al Bayat also explained the difference between the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and others.
“There are so many other countries and companies that have developed the COVID-19 vaccine or are in the process of developing one. Those vaccines are available around the world, being used and have a good outcome. The one we have in Qatar so far is Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. And we are looking into the possibility of bringing other vaccines,” she said.
“If you talk about the technology, yes there are two types. There are the types like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna who are using the mRNA technology and there are some other companies using the standard traditional way of developing vaccines by using a weakened or killed virus as part of the vaccine to stimulate the body’s immune system to develop antibodies,” she added.
mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. To trigger an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into the body. Not mRNA vaccines. Instead, they teach the cells how to make a protein — or even just a piece of a protein — that triggers an immune response inside the body. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters the body.
