Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: More than half a million people in Oman have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which represents 15 per cent of the population within the target vaccination groups.
Since the start of the national immunisation campaign against COVID-19 in December, 535,578 people have been vaccinated. Among them, 350,957, or 66 percent of recipients, have been injected with a single vaccine dose, while 184,621 people have been given both the doses.
The Ministry of Health continues to encourage people who have received their first dose at least 10 weeks ago to go to their nearest vaccination centre to be given their second dose, if they are eligible. So far, 720,199 vaccine doses have been administered.
Currently, employees of the public sector are among those being administered the first jabs of the vaccine.
This comes as part of the Ministry of Health’s efforts to vaccinate everyone in the country aged 12 and up, which represents 70 per cent of the national population.
This vaccination drive will be rolled out in stages, depending on the arrival of vaccines, and in keeping with the timeline established under the national immunisation campaign.
Vaccination centres in all governorates of Oman are witnessing large numbers of people wishing to be vaccinated, which is considered a good sign of social awareness.
There are at present 25,309 people who currently have COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Health.
There are 240,708 people who have reportedly tested COVID positive since the start of the pandemic, of whom 212,808 have recovered. The recovery rate has dipped slightly to 88.4 per cent. 2,591 people in Oman have died from the coronavirus.
According to a recent survey conducted, 57 per cent of people in Oman are willing to take the vaccine. 84 per cent say they are happy to be injected with both doses, while 42 percent will also advise their friends to be vaccinated.
The survey, which was held by the Ministry of Health and National Centre for Statistics and Information, polled from 15 to 31 December, 2020, the opinions of 3,000 people: 67 percent of them were Omani, and the remaining were expatriates.
“According to the results, society’s awareness of COVID-19 ranges between middling and high,” said a statement from the ministry.
“The percentage of familiarity with the disease symptoms and prevention methods is around 96 percent for both groups, while awareness of the transmission of the disease and how to deal with its symptoms when they appear is known by 95 percent of people.”
93 percent of people also know which groups across the country are most infected, 67 percent of respondents receive their information from social media, and about 56 percent of them rely on the TV for up-to-date news.
Furthermore, more than half of the society believes vaccines will safeguard them against COVID-19, and 93 percent of Omanis and 79 percent of expatriates are aware of the types of COVID vaccines distributed to people in the country.
The Ministry of Health has also greenlit administering vaccines to people who are in hospitals for other ailments, with one exception. “This excludes people who are admitted due to infection, and those who have diseases that cause fever,” said the government body.
