Oman to receive first batch of vaccines this week

Muscat: The first batch of Covid-19  vaccine will arrive in the country on Wednesday, it was confirmed by the Ministry of Health on Monday.

The vaccine that will reach the Sultanate is manufactured by Pfizer using Nuclear ribonucleic acid. technology. The vaccine will be delivered in two doses, separated by 21 days, and vaccination centers will be announced during the next few days.

Badr bin Saif al Rawahi, Director, Department of Infectious Diseases Control, confirmed that the first batch of Covid vaccine will arrive in the Sultanate on Wednesday, stressing that a national plan has been prepared to distribute the vaccine, and train health workers in all governorates of the Sultanate.

He mentioned that maintaining restrictions strains the economies of all countries and these are only precautionary measures. "The vaccines are generally effective, especially from the past success in the elimination of epidemics such as smallpox and polio."

He said that there is a race to manufacture the Covid 19 vaccine due to the great need for it, as some companies have reached advanced stages of clinical trials and others have obtained international approvals for emergency use.

Al Rawahi stated that the Sultanate, represented by the Ministry of Health, has sought to create consultative channels with a number of scientific institutions and international organizations, as well as through direct negotiations with a number of companies. Luckily, Oman was among the first countries to obtain the vaccine in 2020 itself.

He emphasized that the Ministry has prepared a strategy for vaccination to cover 60 percent of the population, which is divided into stages, and the first stage begins with 20 percent of the targeted percentage due to the limited supply in the current period.

Al Rawahi said that the target groups in the first stage are the groups most vulnerable to disease, including frontline workers and those with chronic diseases - the elderly, diabetics, people with chronic lung disease, kidney failures, and workers in intensive care departments for Covid 19 patients."