The Qatari Health Ministry is in talks with the world's largest pharmaceutical companies developing a vaccine against the novel coronavirus as it plans to cover the immunization needs of the nation as soon as possible, Abdullatif al-Khal, the head of the country's National Strategic Group on COVID-19 and the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation, has said
DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2020) The Qatari Health Ministry is in talks with the world's largest pharmaceutical companies developing a vaccine against the novel coronavirus as it plans to cover the immunization needs of the nation as soon as possible, Abdullatif al-Khal, the head of the country's National Strategic Group on COVID-19 and the Infectious Diseases Division at Hamad Medical Corporation, has said.
"Qatar's Ministry of Public Health has advanced in negotiations with a number of the leading pharmaceutical companies that have been manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine in order to purchase a substantial number of vaccines to ensure that everyone, who needs inoculation, can get vaccinated as soon as possible," al-Khal said.
The ministry has signed an agreement with the US' Pfizer pharma giant and Germany's BioNTech biotechnology company for the supply of a vaccine once it passes all clinical trials and obtains the necessary permits, the senior medical official added.
Doha's response to the spread of COVID-19 has proved its efficiency, as it reduced the number of the disease-related cases, al-Khal said, noting that, however, Qatar, as well as other countries, would continue to co-exist with the virus for a while longer until an effective vaccine has been developed.
The vaccine is expected to be available by the end of this year or during 2021, according to the official.
Since the start of the pandemic, Qatar had been on the front line among the Arab states in regard with the growth of COVID-19 cases. In July, Doha had subsequently managed to change the status quo to its own advantage, and a count of daily registered cases began to decrease to 200 or even less.
To date, the country's health officials have registered 126,692 cases of COVID-19. Over 123,600 people recovered from the disease and 216 died.
