Oman to receive first batch of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday

Oman is expected to receive the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech. High-risk groups of people, including frontline medical workers, as well as individuals suffering from chronic diseases and elderly persons are set to be inoculated during the first stage.

Muscat:The first shipment of Covid-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech will be delivered to Oman on Wednesday, the director of the infectious diseases control department of the country's health ministry, Badr bin Saif Al Rawahi, announced on Monday.

"The first batch of the Covid-19 vaccine will be delivered to the Sultanate on coming Wednesday," Al Rawahi said, as quoted by the department, on Twitter.

According to the senior health official, Oman has sought to create consultative communication channels with a number of scientific institutions and international organizations and also was in direct talks with some companies, which enabled the nation to be among the first ones to obtain the vaccine.

"The ministry has formulated a vaccination strategy to cover 60 per cent of the population, which is divided into phases, and the first one starts with 20 per cent due to the limited supply at the current period," Al Rawahi added.

High-risk groups of people, including frontline medical workers, as well as individuals suffering from chronic diseases and elderly persons are set to be inoculated during the first stage.

The vaccine will be administered in two doses, with the second one being given after a 21-day period, the official noted, adding that the vaccination centers will be named in the next few days.

Earlier in the month, the Omani Ministry of Health issued a license to import the Pfizer vaccine and allowed its use for people over the age of 16. Last week, Saudi Arabia became the first Arab country to start a nationwide vaccination campaign with the Pfizer/BioNtech shot.

To date, Oman has registered 127,667 cases of the novel coronavirus, with 1,488 deaths and around 120,000 recoveries.

ANI/Spuntik