As the world is still grappling with the COVID-19 crisis, Qatar has emerged as a model in successfully confronting the pandemic. The country had geared itself well before the virus came calling on its shores.
Under the supervision and guidance of the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) prepared the health system to meet the challenges with the help of its highly efficient army of professionals and state-of-the-art treatment facilities.
Qatar has set up specialised hospitals and quarantine facilities to treat thousands of patients and with the help of different government agencies, implemented several preventive measures to stem the spread of the virus. All those affected by the virus, irrespective of being citizens or residents, were given world-class health care free of cost.
As the pandemic had spread across the world by the first half of last year, health experts were in a quagmire as to find ways to treat the illness as no reliable medicine was effective against the virus. Different researches to find an effective vaccine gave a ray of hope and by the fourth quarter of 2020, the world heaved a sigh of relief as vaccines started to prove efficacy and were given approval for emergency use.
Qatar was one of the first countries to start a national vaccination campaign which began in December 2020 after the MoPH had given Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines approval for emergency use. After that there was no turning back as the country consistently kept up the pace of vaccination with a clear vision and action plan. Now, Qatar is among the top 10 countries in the world in inoculating most number of people based on population density.
According to MoPH data, 2,574,692 doses of doses have been administered in the country with 29,499 doses being given yesterday itself. With this, 64.2 percent of the eligible population has now received at least one dose of the vaccine and 92.4 percent of the most vulnerable people (aged 60 and above) have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 85.8 percent have received both doses.
In addition to the free treatment and vaccination, the government has given several incentives to the economic sector and a support package of QR75bn was announced during the first wave.
The Ehteraz app, launched by the MoPH, went a long way in protecting the society from the spread of the pandemic.
Today, with daily cases declining below 240, Qatar can be proud of its achievements in confronting the virus with wise policies and a comprehensive strategy.
