People over 65 years of age to be vaccinated from Sunday in Oman

Muscat: The Ministry of Health will,  on Sunday, launch a campaign targeting a new segment of society as part of its COVID-19 national immunisation drive using Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The campaign will target people aged 65+ in all governorates of the Sultanate, irrespective of whether they are ‘healthy’ or not. The vaccine will be given at designated immunisation centres. The two-dose vaccine will be given in intervals of four weeks.

Last Saturday, the Sultanate received a total of 100,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from India where the medicine was produced at Serum Institute. Oman’s Minister of Health has thanked the government of India for delivering 100,000 vaccines at no charge, to help with the country’s coronavirus vaccination drive.

The AstraZeneca vaccines have undergone clinical trials to ensure they were safe to use on humans. The vaccines were handed over to Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi by Munu Mahawar, the ambassador of India to Oman.

Thanking the Indian government on behalf of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik and the Omani government and people, “Al Saidi welcomed the government of India’s gesture to gift 100,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and commended the cooperation between the two countries,” said a statement from the Ministry of Health.

He praised India’s leading role in the global fight against COVID-19, and the support that India has extended to its friends, praising the efforts of the government in making vaccines available for people around the world.

“It is important to have an interval of at least four weeks between the first and second dose when taking the AstraZeneca vaccine,” the statement said.

The Indian envoy said, “This is a gift from the Government of India – this is a gesture of goodwill from India, keeping in mind the special relationship we have with Oman. This is entirely a contribution to Oman’s vaccine programme for the country’s government and Ministry of Health to use,” he added.
“India has always shouldered global responsibility at times of crisis and is a dependable and reliable friend of Oman.”

Meanwhile people who already received the first dose of Pfizer-bionNTech vaccine will not be given the current vaccine. The Ministry of Health will announce the date of application for the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech later.