Qatar Economic Outlook Issue Number 13

Part 2 - Economic Performance 2017 - 2020 
 
109 
Precautionary Measures During 
First Wave
Based on the foregoing, it is evident that 
there is societal acceptance in adhering to 
government measures, which limited the 
spread of the virus. As shown in figure (2-57), 
the curve of weekly infections stabilized from 
the end of July 2020 to mid-January 2021, 
with a weekly average of 1225 cases; with. a 
maximum of 2133 cases, and a minimum of 
164 cases. 
At the end of 2020, several factors raised 
people’s hopes that their lives would get 
back to normal during 2021. Among such 
factors are that the curve of the number of 
cases flattened out and that there were high 
recovery rates and fewer deaths registered. 
The phased lifting of preventive measures 
was viewed by the populace to be 
reasonable, and the arrival of the first 
shipments of vaccines at the end of 
December 2020 was seen as the proverbial 
light at the end of the tunnel. Thereafter, the 
vaccination of the most vulnerable 
population was immediately started. 
However, this optimism was misplaced, as it 
was accompanied by a profound 
underestimation of the importance of 
adhering to the precautionary measures in 
workplaces, social events, family visits, and 
gathering places in markets and parks. 
Box 2-12: Vaccine Efficacy in Combating Mutated Variants 
Following the US Food and Drug Administration approved the COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer-
BioNTech on 11 December 2020, its approval of the Moderna vaccine on 18 December 2020 
coincided with the WHO’s announcement on the same day that symptomatic infected 
individuals who appeared in Britain in September 2020 and in South Africa in May 2020 
carried new variations or mutations of SARS-CoV-2 virus, which epidemiologists predicted 
would evolve over time. 
From this standpoint, WHO, in cooperation with experts, research centers and relevant 
institutions in Member States, has been tracking and assessing the development of SARS-
CoV-2 since January 2020. Given that the emergence of new variants first observed by the 
end of 2020 poses a mounting threat to global health, WHO constantly provides updates on 
new variants under two sets of classifications: Variants of Interest (VOIs) and Variant of 
Concern (VOCS). Until the end of September 2021, most studies indicate the efficacy of 
developed vaccines against mutated variants of COVID-19, as Table (1) indicates, which it is 
obtained from
 
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-info.html