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Qatar was successful in overcoming the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic through preventive measures and vaccination, and the people are now once again required to take the booster shots of the vaccine and follow precautions to defeat the third wave of the coronavirus infections, an official has said.
Dr Jamila Al Ajmi, Executive Director of the Infection Control Department at Hamad Medical Corporation, said although the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, it is studied to cause mild to moderate symptoms in patients.
Omicron symptoms are expected to remain moderate and mild due to the community’s immunity in Qatar, as more than 85 percent people have received two doses of a vaccine.
Speaking to Qatar Radio yesterday, she said: “With doubling of infected cases and entering the beginning of the third wave, not only in Qatar, but in a number of countries in the world, everyone must adhere to the preventive measures in order to overcome the wave. Also the third dose is necessary to boost immunity, and this is confirmed by studies. Even if the person gets infected, the complications will be less.”
“Although Omicron variant is spreading fast, most cases that we have seen so far from Omicron in Qatar, and in other countries, are with symptoms ranging from moderate to mild, somewhat similar to the flu. Some patients suffer from severe headaches and high temperature for days,” Al Ajmi noted.
She expected most cases to remain mild to moderate, especially since a large majority of the population is vaccinated.
Al Ajmi advised people who have symptoms similar to coronavirus or have been in contact with an infected person to go to a health center for examination.
“There is continuous monitoring of infected cases to see if they need intensive care or not. The pandemic will end if the vaccination rate around the world reaches 70 percent,” she said.
She said the unvaccinated, those who took the vaccine over six months ago, the elderly, and children are the most vulnerable in the new wave of infections.
She said side effects from the third dose are generally normal. Most people feel pain at the place of injection or high temperature. These symptoms disappear in two or three days, she said.
