Qatar opens one of world’s largest vaccination centres

Tribune News Network Doha Minister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari visited the new Qatar Vaccination Center — for business and industry sect...

Tribune News NetworkDohaMinister of Public Health HE Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari visited the new Qatar Vaccination Center — for business and industry sector — as the centre began operations on Tuesday.The new facility, one of the largest vaccination centres in the world, is the result of a collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Health Care Corporation and Qatar Charity, with support from the Ministry of Interior and ConocoPhillips-Qatar. The centre is one of multiple vaccination centres that have been established to ensure the Qatar’s vaccination programme is delivered at speed.“The opening of this new vaccination centre highlights Qatar’s commitment to continuing the fast roll-out of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme which has seen a noticeable increase in the number of vaccinated people,” said Dr Al Kuwari.“At the start of the year we announced a phased plan to deliver the vaccination programme and committed to vaccinating all eligible members of the population throughout 2021. Thanks to the hard work of healthcare staff and the overwhelming support of the public, we are now ahead of where we planned to be in terms of vaccination coverage. However, we remain committed to vaccinating as many eligible members of our community as possible and I encourage anyone who is offered an appointment to accept it without delay and get protected,” added Dr Al Kuwari.Dr Khalid Abdulnoor, Senior Consultant Emergency Medicine at Hamad Medical Corporation and lead for the Qatar Vaccination Center for Business and Industry Sector, said: “The new centre is dedicated to vaccinating key business and industry workers which plays an important role in supporting the safe roll-out of Qatar’s phased plan to lift COVID-19 restrictions. Covering more than 300,000 square metres, this is probably the largest vaccination centre in the world, with more than 300 vaccination stations and 700 staff providing capacity to administer more than 25,000 doses a day.”“To date, more than 300,000 key business and industry workers have already been vaccinated as part of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, with many of these receiving their vaccination at the Vaccination Center Industrial Area, which opened at the start of April,” explained Dr Abdulnoor.Dr Abdulnoor stated that the COVID-19 Vaccination Scheduling Unit is set up to support the booking and appointment process at the new vaccination centre. Businesses can schedule vaccination appointments for their staff by emailing QVC@hamad.qa.With the opening of the new Qatar Vaccination Center – for Business and Industry Sector- significantly boosting capacity of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, the two drive-through vaccination centres and the one at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) will close over the next two weeks.More than 320,000 people have visited the drive-through centers for their second dose of vaccines, but with summer temperatures continuing to rise, conditions have become very challenging for staff and service users.The last day of operation for Lusail COVID-19 drive-through center will be Wednesday (June 23), the last day of operation for Al Wakra COVID-19 drive-through center will be Wednesday (June 30), and the last day of operation for the vaccination center at QNCC will be Tuesday ( June 29).Dr Mariam Abdulmalik, Managing Director of Primary Healthcare Corporation, said: “The vaccination centre at the Qatar National Convention Center was initially set up to prioritise the vaccination of teachers and school staff. Since opening in February, more than 600,000 people – teachers, school staff and many other eligible members of the community - have been vaccinated at the center.”“With the new Qatar Vaccination Center – for Business and Industry Sector- providing capacity for more than 25,000 doses a day, and continuing capacity for 15,000 doses a day across our 27 health centres, the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme maintains capacity for up to 40,000 doses a day,” explained Dr Abdulmalik.Dr Abdullatif Al Khal, Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of Infectious Diseases at HMC, encouraged anyone not yet vaccinated to play their part in getting back to normality by accepting their vaccine appointment invitation when eligible.“The efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines is exceptional – beyond what we could realistically have hoped for this time last year. Real-world clinical evidence shows the vaccines to be more than 95 percent effective at preventing severe sickness due to COVID-19. For the small minority of people who have been offered a vaccination appointment, but not yet accepted the offer, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. It is important that you protect yourself; protect your loved ones; and help us get back to normal.”