Even as the mass vaccination is all set to begin next week, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has urged the potential takers to shed prejudices and to follow the instructions given on the official media regarding vaccination.
“Since the approval for Covid-19 vaccines, many people felt relieved and were ready to take it. However, there are many who are reluctant to take the vaccine. This is known as
vaccine hesitancy which is defined as the delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite their availability,” says Dr Hamed al Sinawi, MD- FRCPsych, Senior Consultant, Old-age Psychiatrist, Department of Behavioural Medicine, SQU.
The number of persons who should take the vaccine has been calculated according to the risk factors such as old-age and chronic diseases, besides the ones in the frontlines who are serving the community like workers in the health and education sectors, according to the national strategy for immunisation against Covid-19, which is rolled out in several phases.
As many as 30 per cent of the targeted groups are being vaccinated in the first phase which will be completed by the end of August 2021. The second phase intends to vaccinate 40 per cent of the targeted groups by the end of this year so that 70 per cent of the population will be vaccinated, which represents the total number of the targeted groups.
“People need to have confidence and trust in order to make the vaccination campaign successful and keep Oman safe from the pandemic,” he added.
“Several factors have been proposed to explain this phenomenon such as trust and confidence in the vaccine, not perceiving a need for a vaccine, and difficulty in accessing the vaccine.
There is also the influence of the anti-vaccine campaign which has been very active in spreading false information about the vaccine and its intention which includes conspiracy theory about the origin of the vaccine,” Dr Sinawi further said.
Therefore, the MoH has contracted with several firms to provide the vaccines in order to achieve the national strategy for immunisation against Covid-19.
With a view to enhancing the government efforts to curb the pandemic and as part of the social responsibility, a number of private sector firms including oil and gas, telecommunication, flight companies and banks have supported the national efforts to control the pandemic by providing medicines, personal protective equipment and tests supplies, as well as bearing the costs of vaccinating their own employees.
Within the strategic partnership between the government and private health sectors, which revealed amid this pandemic through the great efforts made by the private sector, it has been decided that these private institutions could involve in the national campaign for immunisation under the MoH conditions and regulations. These private institutions will administer vaccines for their employees along with the companies and authorities’ employees.
Unfortunately health education alone has limited impact on facilitating vaccination uptake and we need to understand what motivate people to take the vaccine. Several factors influence our motivation and health-related behaviour.
“When considering vaccine acceptance, people think about their risk of contracting Covid and how would his damage their health. They also consider the good things that could happen from taking the vaccine, the barriers and cost of getting the vaccine,” said Dr Al Sinawi.
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