False and misleading claims about the COVID-19 vaccine are doing the round, mainly about the vaccine’s side effects, its effectiveness, and risks to those who take the dose.
His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik is in close contact with the Supreme Committee and the technical team entrusted with updates on the pandemic, the minister said in a statement made to Oman TV.
Stressing on the importance of taking scientific information from reliable sources and not from social media, Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, member of the Supreme Committee tasked with tackling developments resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, said the rumours circulating on social media are false.
The minister indicated that to confirm the safety of the vaccine, he will be the first to take it on Sunday at the launch of the vaccination campaign in the Sultanate. He said the available vaccines are effective against the new strain as well.
Dr Al Saeedi said that the first batch of the vaccine will arrive in the Sultanate on Thursday evening, noting that the delay in the arrival of the vaccine was due to suspension of flights in many countries around the world.
The minister said that the Sultanate will receive a consignment of 15,600 doses of Pfizer tomorrow, while a second consignment of 28,000 doses is scheduled to arrive by early January 2021.
The Sultanate is among the first countries which have joined the GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) and has booked 10 per cent of its required stock through the GAVI, the minister added.
He added that viruses in general and the RNA viruses, in particular, mutate fast. More than 4,000 mutations of COVID-19 have been registered since it started the spread, he said.
Dr Ahmed stressed that, so far, no evidence corroborates the claim that the new variant of COVID-19 is more fierce or more dangerous than the mother virus. He emphasised that the available vaccines will have the same response to the mother virus.
The minister reiterated that the Health Ministry has prioritised target groups which are eligible to the doses during the first phase, noting that these groups include patients suffering from chronic diseases and the medical staff.
The minister said that the decisions of the Supreme Committee are well-studied and based on the epidemiological situation and recommendations submitted to the technical team. The committee’s decision to impose a ban on travel from Tuesday came as a precautionary measure, since it is not possible to decide in which country the new strain of COVID-19 is spreading.
The minister credited the decline in infection cases with COVID-19 in the Sultanate to the high level of awareness among citizens and residents and their commitment to precautionary measures. No indications now warrant the closure of any part of the Sultanate, said the minister, who confirmed the ongoing epidemiological monitoring of the situation in the Sultanate. If ever the Supreme Committee decides any lockdown anywhere in the Sultanate, that will be in limited areas, said Dr Ahmed.
He said that imported cases of infection were very high, constituting 60 per cent of the registered cases.
EFFECTIVE TOOL
Scientists agree that vaccines are the most effective tool to combat infectious diseases, as they prevent six million deaths every year. Many studies have proven that vaccines are safe. Dr Anthony Fauci, Chief Epidemiologist in the United States, said by administering the COVID-19 vaccine to a large number of people can end the pandemic, and it is the only way to end the lockdowns completely.
Many Gulf countries, like the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, have started giving vaccines to their citizens. The official spokesman of the Saudi Ministry of Health, Muhammad al Abd al Aali, confirmed that all those who took the COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia are in good health, and that no unexpected symptoms are seen in those who received the vaccine.
RNA TECHNOLOGY
Badr bin Saif al Rawahi, Director of the Infectious Diseases Control Department at the Ministry of Health, stated that the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine is a Pfizer type vaccine manufactured using RNA technology, stressing that a national plan has been prepared to distribute the vaccine, and health workers have been trained in all governorates of the Sultanate on the vaccination process.
Al Rawahi indicated that the ministry has prepared a strategy for vaccination to cover 60 per cent of the population, to be divided into stages, and the first phase begins with 20 per cent of the targeted percentage due to the limited supply in the current period.
“The target groups in the first stage are the groups most vulnerable to the disease, including frontline workers, patients with chronic diseases like diabetics, lung diseases, and kidney failure, the elderly, and those working in ICUs and Covid-19’s care departments,” Al Rawahi said to Oman TV.
He also said the vaccine will be delivered to individuals in two doses separated by 21 days, and vaccination centres will be announced within the next few days. “The Ministry sought to find consultation channels with several scientific institutions and international organisations as well as through direct negotiation.”
Oman, according to him, is one of the first countries to obtain the vaccine in 2020.
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