Campaign against Covid-19 starts in all governorates

Muscat: The Sultanate officially launched on Sunday the National Campaign for Immunisation against COVID-19 themed ‘Immunisation is a Prevention’ under the auspices Dr. Ahmed bin Muhammad al Saeedi, Minister of Health, Member of the Supreme Committee at Al Seeb Specialised Polyclinic, Al Koudh.

The minister took the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech anti-virus vaccine, to mark the start of the campaign and to confirm its safety, followed by the Representative of World Health Organisation in Oman, Dr. John Jabbour, as well as several healthcare workers and members from the community.

In a statement, the minister indicated that the second consignment containing 28,000 doses scheduled to arrive by early January 2021, while the first shipment arrived in the Sultanate on Thursday, December 24th.

The first phase of the nationwide vaccination campaign targets those who are more vulnerable to catching the virus including frontline workers, elderly people, and patients with chronic diseases. The doses have been distributed to all the Sultanate Governorates and shall be rolled out as per the priorities established by the technical team.

“We have a plan to vaccinate 60 percent for citizens as well as residents according to controls and priorities as the rest of the countries.  The Sultanate, however, has not and will not use any vaccine or medicine that has not been registered in the country of origin or if its safety has not been confirmed,” the minister added, stressing that “the period spent to manufacture this vaccine did not shorten the usual steps to speed up the process, but efforts were combined from multiple parties to use the time, so we got it in months instead of years. More than 3 million people were vaccinated during clinical trials.”

BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, produced in collaboration between US Pfizer and German’s BioNTech, is designed to stimulate the immune system to make antibodies that protect against the virus.

From the first consignment which includes 15,600 doses of the vaccine, about 7000 people will be vaccinated, as it will be given in two doses separated by 21 days.

Al Saeedi pointed out that the Sultanate did not contract with a single vaccination company and it is negotiating with several companies within the frame of the Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance ) which has 860 countries and is managed by the World Health Organisation.

The Ministry of Health, however, affirmed that the vaccine will not be mandatory. Taking the vaccine will be based on the conviction of individuals in the community about the importance of taking the vaccine that will be supported by awareness and the promotion of a sense of responsibility and national duty.

On the vaccine side effects, Dr. Saif al Abri, Director General of Disease Control and Surveillance, clarified that symptoms associated with taking the vaccine range from local pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site to fever, which are the same symptoms associated with taking any other vaccine. Some other side effects have been recorded in low proportions such as sore throat, nausea, joint pain, and general fatigue, which indicates that the body's immune system is beginning to respond to the vaccine. No serious side effects were recorded during the clinical trial phase.

Dr. Lamia al Balushi, Head of Infectious Diseases Department at the General Directorate of Health Services, Muscat, said “The vaccination strategy will be in stages, as we will initially cover 20 percent of the total target population in all governorates. As for the Governorate of Muscat, a specialized team of health workers has been prepared to identify the target groups using government and private hospitals database. The team will then communicate with those people and set dates to take the vaccine.”

Al Balushi noted that three centers were designated to get the vaccine in Muscat which are Al Seeb Polyclinic (from 7 am to 7 pm), Bowshar Polyclinic (7 am to 7 pm), and Quriyat Health Center (during the morning period only), because the number of target groups is smaller there.  “In the coming days, other institutions will be designated for vaccination, if needed,” she added.

Dr. Lamia explained that the vaccine effectiveness rate reaches 95 percent, and hundreds of thousands have been vaccinated to date without significant side effects, emphasizing that vaccination does not mean dispensing with adhering to preventive precautions, on the contrary, it is necessary to continue to physical distancing, washing hands and avoid gatherings.

The procedure comes as part of the Ministry of Health’s efforts to streamline and speed up the provision of the vaccine in the Sultanate for emergency use following the policies adopted by the ministry. It followed an evaluation by the Directorate-General of Pharmaceutical Affairs and Drug Control of the safety and effectiveness studies provided by Pfizer on November 26 after the vaccine was approved by the health authorities in the UK, Canada, and the US Food and Drug Administration.