Muscat: The majority of Oman's population, including expatriates, will be covered under the mass vaccination campaign, as overwhelming response continued for the second dose, according to a study conducted by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The Ministry of Health has included new groups, more government departments, ministries and public authorities in the target group.
A study conducted among 3,000 randomly selected people, of which 67 per cent were Omanis, and 33 per cent expatriates, indicated that more than half of the Omani society is willing to take Covid-19 vaccines while campaigns are under way across the sectors.
Speaking to the Observer, Mohammed Ali al Qassabi, Acting Chief of Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI), said the vaccination campaign is giving good results. Time is not far when the nation could conquer the pandemic.
"We are taking part in the campaign for vaccination. Long queues at the vaccination centres are obvious results of collective efforts."
He refuted rumours about the side effects and negative impacts of the vaccine and said the awareness level among the society was very high.
"We encourage the public to get vaccinated as per schedule given to each sector and be a part of the nation-building march and ignore the negative news as no scientific proof has been identified to support the fake claims that the vaccine has side effects," said Al Qassabi.
The NCSI study shows that 51 per cent of Omanis are willing to take the Covid-19 vaccine (57 per cent men and 38 per cent women).
As for residents, it is 68 per cent (69 per cent men and 59 per cent women). Also, 84 per cent of people willing to take the vaccine will take the 2 doses, and 42 per cent of them have no worries and will recommend their families and friends to do the same.
This was revealed by the survey conducted by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) in accordance with the Ministry of Health on Covid-19 vaccination campaign (December 15-31, 2020).
The study sample was 3,000 people, 67 per cent of which were Omanis and 33 per cent were residents.
The study indicates that more than half of the Omani society is willing to take Covid-19 vaccines. It also shows that 88 per cent of the society are aware of Covid-19 vaccines (93 per cent Omanis, 79 per cent residents).
It also points out that the society's level of awareness ranges between average and high (awareness of the symptoms and prevention methods 96 per cent, infection ways 95 per cent, what to do when symptoms appear 95 per cent and 93 per cent of the society are aware of the most infected segments with the disease.
Furthermore, 67 per cent rely on social media as a source of information and 56 per cent rely on television.
More than half of the society believe that the vaccine can prevent infection, whereas 44 per cent think that it should be administered to people who have history with the virus, and 42 per cent suggest to prioritize the currently infected people. (With ONA inputs)
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