Qatar to receive first batch of COVID-19 vaccine on Monday

 Qatar will receive its first batch of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday, Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani has announced on Twitter.

“Under the directives of His Highness the Emir, the first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine will arrive the day after tomorrow, and I have directed the health sector to provide it to everyone in accordance with our health standards,” the prime minister said on Saturday.

“This is an important step on the road to containing the pandemic and gradually returning to normal life.”

It is unclear when the vaccination campaign will begin.

But the elderly and those with chronic illnesses would be the first recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Advisor Consultant to the Minister of Public Health Abdul Wahab al-Musleh told local media last week.

On Saturday, Qatar reported 142 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the total number of cases to 141,858 with 243 deaths.

A total of 139,521 people living in Qatar have recovered from the virus since the start of the pandemic.