Covid-19 vaccination campaign begins in Dhofar

Muscat: The national vaccination campaign against COVID-19 has been launched in Dhofar Governorate on Monday.

The Ministry of Health (MOH), said: "This morning, at Sultan Qaboos Hospital, Dhofar Governorate, the National Campaign for Immunization Against COVID-19 launched under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Ahmed bin Mohsen Al-Ghassani, Chairman of Dhofar Municipality, in the presence of Dr. Khaled bin Muhammad Al-Mashikhi, Director General of Health Services in Dhofar Governorate, Dr. Hassan Al-Kathiri, Director of Sultan Qaboos Hospital, and a number of health services officials in the governorate."

During the inauguration of the national campaign, Dr. Khaled bin Mohammed Al-Mashikhi, Director General of Health Services in Dhofar Governorate, introduced His Excellency of the efforts and services that have been implemented since the beginning of the pandemic and gave him a brief idea about the national campaign for immunization against COVID-19 and about the vaccine, its importance, the mechanism for distributing the vaccine and the time period, showing the two doses in addition to the target groups from the campaign. Then His Excellency Dr. Ahmed bin Mohsen Al-Ghassani, received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the virus.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be given in two doses for the person and the time period between the two doses ranges from 21-28 days.The first phase will target health workers and the elderly, 65 years and over, people suffering from diabetes and those suffering from kidney failure, chronic lung diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.The second phase will be for all other groups.

The first phase of vaccination will include 970 doses in Dhofar Governorate. The General Directorate of Health Services in Dhofar Governorate has identified three health institutions (Sultan Qaboos Hospital, Al Sadah Centers, and Awqad Health Centers).

The first dose of the Pfizer-Bionic vaccine was 15, 600 doses, and it arrived in the Sultanate last Thursday, where a vaccination plan was developed according to a timetable. The campaign was launched by His Excellency Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammad Al-Saeedi, Minister of Health, he said that the number will reach 28,000 doses next January.