About 98.4% of the people who have received the Covid-19 vaccine have not been infected with the virus, a senior health official has said.
Only about 1.5% of those vaccinated got infected either after the first or second dose, Dr Muna al-Maslamani, medical director of the Communicable Disease Center at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), told Qatar TV on Monday.
This was observed by monitoring about 400,000 vaccinated people from the start of the vaccination programme until March 28, she said.
Dr al-Maslamani said the Pfizer/BionTech and Moderna vaccines, according to the manufacturers, are effective against the new mutated strains from the UK and South Africa, but more studies are needed in this regard.
Regarding the duration of the effectiveness of vaccines, she said preliminary study indicate that the effectiveness of vaccines in forming antibodies lasts for six months.
"But I do not expect their effectiveness to stop after this period, because the companies are following up on vaccinated patients and conducting studies. We are awaiting the outcomes of these studies which will answer questions, including whether to extend the effectiveness of vaccines to one year or not, and if it is possible for Covid-19 to turn into a seasonal virus like seasonal influenza and thus require an annual vaccine," she added.
She also called on people who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate plasma through the Communicable Disease Center to treat other coronavirus patients.
“We face a shortage of plasma and are in need of donors, as acute cases in intensive care require plasma therapy, especially those who suffer from liver or kidney ailments," she added.