Musallam Al Nabit, Assistant Director General of PHCC, receiving the Covid-19 vaccine shot.
Doha: A week into the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Qatar, post-vaccine surveillance has not reported any serious side effects. A small number of those who have taken the vaccination reported very modest side effects including low-grade fever, mild headache, fatigue and soreness at the injection site, which is commonly seen with other vaccines.
Since the start of the vaccination campaign on Wednesday, December 23, the PHCC teams have successfully vaccinated people at 7 designated PHCC Health Centres - Al Wajbah, Leabaib, Al Ruwais, Umm Salal, Rawdat Al Khail, Al Thumama and Muaither.
The first phase of vaccination programme includes those who are 70 years of age and older, those with severe chronic conditions and key healthcare professionals working in close contact with Covid-19 patients. It also includes essential and frontline workers of key ministries and governmental entities.
“Unprecedented collaborative efforts are in place to vaccinate most of the population in an effort to control the pandemic and allow for gradual return towards normal life. The vaccine has proven to be safe, from the surveillance we conducted over the last few days, and that is very reassuring and is consistent with the clinical trials that led to the authorization of its use. Most of the side effects are mild and there has been no report of allergic reactions to it since we started,” Dr. Samya Al Abdulla, Dr Samya Al Abdulla, Executive Director of Operations at PHCC, said.
“We know from recently completed clinical trials and post surveillance of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that serious reactions are rare. The potential benefits of such a highly effective vaccine outweighs any potential risk that maybe rarely associated with it,” she added.
Members of the community who are eligible for the vaccine will be contacted through phone/SMS by the PHCC team to invite them to attend an appointment at one of the seven designated health centres.
