The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)’s Ambulance Service has started to vaccinate its staff against COVID-19. It has started with the frontline paramedics who, during the pandemic, responded to thousands of emergency medical calls throughout Qatar. The roll-out of vaccination to Ambulance Service members started on Wednesday as health care professionals and frontline workers throughout the country have been prioritised to be among the early recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine, said Assistant Executive Director of HMC’s Ambulance Service, Ali Darwish. “Within two days 100 from Ambulance Service have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. We aim to vaccinate around 2,000 members of the Ambulance Service including those working on the front line and other staff,” he told The Peninsula yesterday.
The Ambulance Service staff are being given the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech that is being distributed throughout the country. According to Darwish, the Ambulance Service staff including supervisors, medical dispatchers at National Command Centre, administrative staff and others will be included in the vaccination campaign as in some situations they too respond to emergency situations. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ambulance Service has been central to the implementation of measures put in place by Qatar’s healthcare sector to protect the population from COVID-19. It continued to provide safe transportation to people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection. During the peak of the pandemic in the coutrny, Ambulance Service received around 1,400 calls daily, a 30% increase in daily activity.
Around 240 ambulances were deployed in response to the calls. The COVID-19 vaccination campaign started in the country on December 23, soon after the Ministry of Public Health approved Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. In the first phase of vaccination preference is being given to those over 65 years of age, adults in chronic care and home care facilities, people over 16 years of age with severe chronic diseases and healthcare personnel most at risk of infection which includes the Ambulance Service staff. The vaccine consists of two shots, given three weeks apart.
“By vaccinating Ambulance Service staff members against the COVID-19 we assure the safety of public. By this we inform them that paramedics who respond to their emergencies are safe,” said Darwish.
