People rush to get COVID booster shots

CATHERINE W GICHUKI DOHA With the recent spike in COVID-19 cases worldwide in the wake of Omicron variant, many people are now visiting health centres vol...

CATHERINE W GICHUKIDOHA With the recent spike in COVID-19 cases worldwide in the wake of Omicron variant, many people are now visiting health centres voluntarily to get the COVID-19 booster dose.Though the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) staff normally contact the eligible population to go and get the third dose, the health centres are now seeing more people walking into the facilities to enquire about the jab.Speaking to Qatar Tribune, Madinat Khalifa Health Center Head Nurse Manal Mohamed Ibrahim Sayed Ahmed said, “More people are now coming to ask for the third dose. Many people come directly to us.”She said that besides walk-ins, others go through the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) call center to book an appointment.“In our health centre also, we have a daily list where we contact people and make bookings. We contact all categories of people to get the booster shot, except those from 12 years to 17 years.”She reiterated that in the beginning, there were fewer people coming to get the shot but now many people are visiting to get the shot since they want to travel and to remain protected. She said recent studies have also revealed that the booster dose is effective against the Omicron variant.She said there are no unusual complaints about the side effects of the booster dose.“We don’t have complaints regarding the booster dose. People just complain of little pain on the site of the injection, just like what is experienced in any other vaccination,” she said.Talking about the benefits of taking the booster dose, Mohamed said, “It helps to increase our immunity as well as to protect all the community members.”Explaining about the change in the validity of COVID-19 immunity following the vaccination as announced by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), she said, “In the beginning, the validity was eight months but now it is six months. Therefore, we advise people to take the third dose six months after taking the second dose.”Commenting about the increasing number of COVID-19 in the last few weeks, Mohamed urged the community to follow the COVID-19 precautionary measures such as social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands.