Doha: All the recent deaths have unfortunately have not received any of the doses of the vaccine and majority of those in ICU either have not taken their vaccine or take only first and the second doses, Dr Soha Al Bayat, Head of Vaccination at the Ministry of Public Health, said.
All of this shows the importance of taking the booster dose to further protect you at least form severe infection, she added.
Dr Soha Al Bayat answers the most common questions about the COVID-19 vaccine booster dose
Who is eligible for booster dose?
Anyone who is 12 years or older and it has been six months at least since they took their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are now eligible to take the third booster dose of the vaccine.
Why do people who have received two doses need a booster dose?
Scientific evidence have shown that the immunity obtained from the COVID-19 vaccines second dose start to decrease after six months. So this is why it is absolutely critical that people take their booster dose to further enhance and reactivate the level of immunity that they have.
Is the Booster dose effective?
Recent scientific studies have shown that the third or the booster dose further enhances your immunity and can give you up to 75% protection from mild to moderate disease. All the recent deaths have unfortunately have not received any of the doses of the vaccine and majority of those in ICU either have not taken their vaccine or take only first and the second doses. All of this shows the importance of taking the booster dose to further protect you at least form severe infection.
If someone has received the booster dose can they still catch COVID-19?
Taking the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will give you protection from mild to moderate infection. Yes you may still get infection but you may not need hospital care or admission.
Are there any side effects related to the booster dose?
So far more than 365,000 doses of COVID-19 booster have been given in Qatar. Only a minor number of people have reported mild to moderate symptoms post vaccine like pain in the arm in the sight of the injection, headaches, body aches and some had fever. But the majority only very mild symptoms. And they did not require any medical care.