First batch of COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Oman

The first consignment of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the Sultanate on December 24 through Muscat International Airport. A total of 15,600 doses of the vaccine were received by the Ministry of Health (MoH) at the airport.

The second consignment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, consisting 28,000 doses, is scheduled to arrive by early January.

The MoH will officially commence the vaccination campaign on Sunday. The campaign will be led by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, to make sure the vaccine is effective and safe for use.

The vaccines will be given first to the frontline workers as well as people with chronic diseases — the elderly, diabetics, people with chronic lung disease, kidney failures, and workers in intensive care departments for COVID-19 patients.

The vaccine will be delivered in two doses, separated by 21 days.

The ministry has prepared a strategy for vaccination to cover 60 per cent of the population, which will be divided into different phases. Around 20 per cent of the targeted group will be covered in the first phase due to the limited supply initially.

The MoH, for the first time in the last few months, on Thursday reported 54 new cases of COVID-19 with no deaths.

The total number of positive COVID-19 cases in the country has now reached 128,290 including 120,441 recoveries and 1,491 deaths with a recovery rate of 93.9 per cent.