Doha
The current wave of COVID-19 infections in Qatar is unlikely to be the last, a senior health official has said as he called on the public to prepare for further waves in the future.
“This is not the end… this wave that Qatar and most countries of the world are witnessing will not be the last wave,” said Dr Abdullatif Al Khal, the Chair of Qatar’s National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and the Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
“The virus may mutate again and come out to us in another way and spread again around the world in the form of a new wave.
“While we must unite to overcome this wave, we must be ready to deal with new waves in the future.”
Since mid-October, Dr Khal said Qatar saw a clear increase in the number of daily infections. Two weeks ago, he said the rise in Qatar became as sharp as those in the rest of the world due to the spread of the Omicron variant.
Dr Khal said the steep rise in cases occurred when schools were closed for the winter break, pointing out the highly contagiousness nature of the variant.
The third wave hasn’t reached its peak yet and the daily cases will keep rising until it does, Dr Khal added
“We expect that the third wave will continue for several weeks,” he said, noting that the peak will be reached in the coming weeks,” Dr Khal said.
The senior health official dubbed coronavirus pandemic as one of the most severe that have passed over humanity during the past 100 years, noting Qatar has not dealt with an epidemic of this size in past. The restrictions imposed in Qatar to combat the spread of the virus in the previous period saved many lives, he added.
“Around 85 percent of the population getting vaccinated has brought us to a better position to deal with the new wave. Had it not been for the population's high immunity rate, severe infections would have been much higher, he said.
“The Omicron variant is highly contagious, and therefore we must be careful not to contract the virus and not pass it on to others. We must protect ourselves by taking the booster dose of the vaccine.”
So far, more than 300,000 booster doses have been given, and Qatar is starting to witness an increase in demand for vaccination.
“We hope that the number of people receiving the booster dose will double after the opening of new vaccination centres,” he added.
Dr Al Khal said children under 12 years of age are the most vulnerable to contracting the virus and transmitting it to others. “Only a limited percentage of them end up being hospitalized, especially those who have chronic health problems,” he added.
Dr Al Khal said, "We do not know the long-term damage to children who contract the virus, and they also help spread the virus through mixing with their families."
He indicated that experiments have been conducted in a number of countries on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine among children, and the use of the vaccine for children between the ages of 10 and 12 years has recently been approved.
“This is important news because if most children in this category are immunized, then it will limit the spread of the virus in schools,” he added.
