Al Rayyan Stadium is one of the venues that will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. – Hussein Sayed / AP / Sipa
Qatar is in discussions with vaccine producers to ensure that all supporters coming to the FIFA World Cup, which it will host at the end of 2022, have been vaccinated against Covid-19. The announcement was made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The country is facing a resurgence in the number of cases and deaths despite progress on its vaccination plan. Authorities were forced to impose national lockdown. “We have negotiated and discussed with the vaccine suppliers to see how we can ensure that everyone who attends the World Cup is vaccinated,” said Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
The country hopes for “an event spared by the Covid”
“At the moment programs are taking place to grant vaccination to all participants,” he added during a virtual dialogue organized by the Observer Research Foundation. “We will be able, we hope, to organize an event spared by the Covid”, he continued.
To date, 194,930 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in this country of 2.75 million inhabitants. About 1.2 million doses of the vaccine have been administered, according to official data. Of the 367 deaths recorded since the start of the epidemic, one in five has been caused by the British variant, known to be more virulent.
Qatar last week reimposed strict containment measures, banning almost all indoor activity. Fifa President Gianni Infantino recently said that measures should be adopted during the World Cup to prevent Covid-19 contamination, without giving details. In October, he congratulated Qatar during a visit to Doha for making progress in preparations for the 2022 World Cup despite the pandemic.