Aspetar Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Hospital launched a free coronavirus vaccination campaign targeting athletes based in Qatar.
The first 50 injections were given on 22 February. The programme was approved through Aspetar executives who worked with the healthcare authority to make Aspetar a designated vaccination centre.
Aspetar CEO Dr Abdulaziz Al Kuwari said that the campaign would not be possible without their dedicated team and their tireless work across Aspetar, including the many clinical providers and operations support who planned and executed the campaign.
According to the Head of Infection Prevention and Control Committee at Aspetar, Dr Yorck Olaf Schumacher, the vaccination will not only prevent the COVID-19 disease in the vaccinated person but will also prevent its spread, i.e. a vaccinated person is highly unlikely to infect others.
Thus, vaccinations are not only protecting the vaccinated persons but also the unvaccinated persons around them by reducing the circulation of the virus.
Aspetar aims to vaccinate all Aspire Zone staff and all registered athletes and are currently focusing on the first and second division QSL/QFA clubs. The current vaccination plan already includes more than 2000 people.
Dr Schumacher added that hopefully, they would have completed the course of two doses for all Aspire Zone staff and the Qatar Stars League and Qatar Football Association by the end of March.
As of 4 March, we have already vaccinated most of Aspetar AZF staff and about 650 athletes, We currently have a capacity of around 120 vaccinations a day, which we are aiming to increase to more than 150 in the coming days.
The Aspetar COVID-19 response team, which already successfully planned and implemented the COVID-19 testing programme for QSL is in charge again, and athletes will be contacted and scheduled by the medical staff of their club. The Aspetar vaccination programme team is composed of representatives of different departments at Aspetar.
For updates and more information, visit the Aspetar website at aspetar.com.
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