The validity of Covid-19 vaccine immunity continues to be 12 months, Hamad General Hospital's medical director Dr Yousuf al-Maslamani told Qatar TV on Monday.
The current definition of fully vaccinated persons is those who received the two doses of the vaccine. The third booster dose has been released for certain categories according to the latest medical recommendations.
"Medical studies suggest that the acquired immunity starts to weaken after the passage of six months (following vaccination) but the vaccinated persons who contract Covid-19 within this period would not experience symptoms and rarely require any treatment," the senior official said.
After eight months, if they contract Covid-19, those vaccinated could experience mild symptoms and require some treatment. After the passage of 12 months, immunity starts to weaken according to the latest studies but nothing is completely confirmed yet due to the unavailability of further research.
Dr al-Maslamani pointed out that the considerable drop in the reported cases of Covid-19 in Qatar and the high vaccination turnout have led to the ease of the restrictions imposed to curb the pandemic. This included launching the fourth phase of lifting the Covid-19 restrictions in addition to updating the travel and return policies.
"The Covid-19 policies followed in Qatar have been proven to be among the best in the world to be effective to contain the spread of the disease," he stated.
For instance, such policies were successful in delaying the entry of the Delta variant into Qatar by at least three months, during which time the country became more ready to contain its spread and the number of the vaccinated persons increased dramatically.
However, Dr al-Maslamani stressed that the pandemic is still prevalent in the world and the risk should not be undermined as around 500,000 persons contract the disease daily and 9,000 die because of it, which gives room for more variants of the Covid-19 that can spread more quickly.
"The change in travel and return policy is governed by both the improving local situation and pandemic situation in each country in the world, and it is meant to give people easier travel experience while maintaining the necessary protection of public health," he observed.
Regarding the safety of the vaccines, Dr al-Maslamani explained that around 6bn persons around the world have taken the different Covid-19 vaccines. The very limited adverse reactions reported could not be compared to the risks and consequences of contracting the disease and the possibility of suffering from the long Covid-19 complications.
"The GCC countries have agreed to exchange the related information and updates but there are some technical difficulties regarding the approval of applications similar to Ehteraz because of the different requirements and technical issues," the official said.
All the updates of the return and travel policies for the different categories of people are available in detail on the website of the Ministry of Public Health.
Dr al-Maslamani added that he expected a full return to normal life within a few months, but this is subject to the latest pandemic updates on the ground.
The current definition of fully vaccinated persons is those who received the two doses of the vaccine. The third booster dose has been released for certain categories according to the latest medical recommendations.
"Medical studies suggest that the acquired immunity starts to weaken after the passage of six months (following vaccination) but the vaccinated persons who contract Covid-19 within this period would not experience symptoms and rarely require any treatment," the senior official said.
After eight months, if they contract Covid-19, those vaccinated could experience mild symptoms and require some treatment. After the passage of 12 months, immunity starts to weaken according to the latest studies but nothing is completely confirmed yet due to the unavailability of further research.
Dr al-Maslamani pointed out that the considerable drop in the reported cases of Covid-19 in Qatar and the high vaccination turnout have led to the ease of the restrictions imposed to curb the pandemic. This included launching the fourth phase of lifting the Covid-19 restrictions in addition to updating the travel and return policies.
"The Covid-19 policies followed in Qatar have been proven to be among the best in the world to be effective to contain the spread of the disease," he stated.
For instance, such policies were successful in delaying the entry of the Delta variant into Qatar by at least three months, during which time the country became more ready to contain its spread and the number of the vaccinated persons increased dramatically.
However, Dr al-Maslamani stressed that the pandemic is still prevalent in the world and the risk should not be undermined as around 500,000 persons contract the disease daily and 9,000 die because of it, which gives room for more variants of the Covid-19 that can spread more quickly.
"The change in travel and return policy is governed by both the improving local situation and pandemic situation in each country in the world, and it is meant to give people easier travel experience while maintaining the necessary protection of public health," he observed.
Regarding the safety of the vaccines, Dr al-Maslamani explained that around 6bn persons around the world have taken the different Covid-19 vaccines. The very limited adverse reactions reported could not be compared to the risks and consequences of contracting the disease and the possibility of suffering from the long Covid-19 complications.
"The GCC countries have agreed to exchange the related information and updates but there are some technical difficulties regarding the approval of applications similar to Ehteraz because of the different requirements and technical issues," the official said.
All the updates of the return and travel policies for the different categories of people are available in detail on the website of the Ministry of Public Health.
Dr al-Maslamani added that he expected a full return to normal life within a few months, but this is subject to the latest pandemic updates on the ground.
