MUSCAT — Oman is starting a COVID-19 immunization campaign with Pfizer's vaccine from Dec. 27 (Sunday), according to the country's Health Minister Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Saeedi, who is also a member of the supreme committee to deal with the pandemic in the Sultanate, the Oman News Agency reported. The health minister made the remarks in an interview on Oman TV. He said that Oman's Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik is in close contact with the supreme committee and the technical team entrusted with updates on the pandemic. Dr. Ahmed pointed out that the Sultanate will receive a consignment of 15,600 doses of Pfizer on Thursday this week, while the second consignment of 28,000 doses is scheduled to arrive by early January 2021. The Sultanate is among the first countries that joined the GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) and has booked 10 percent of its required stock through the GAVI, the minister said. He added that viruses in general and the RNA viruses, in particular, mutate fast. More than 4,000 mutations of Covid-19 have been registered since it first began to propagate, he explained. Dr. Ahmed stressed that, so far, no evidence corroborates the claim that the new variant COVID-19 is fiercer or more dangerous than the mother virus. He emphasized that the available vaccines will have the same impact on the mutated virus. The minister reiterated that his ministry has prioritized target groups that are eligible for the doses during the first phase, noting that these groups include patients suffering from chronic diseases and the medical staff. Dr. Ahmed explained that the decisions of the supreme committee are well-studied and based on the epidemiological situation and recommendations submitted to the technical team. The committee's decision to impose a ban on travel on Monday came as a precautionary measure, since it is not possible to decide in which country the new strain of COVID-19 is spreading. The minister credited the decline in cases of infection with COVID-19 in the Sultanate to the high level of awareness among citizens and residents and their commitment to precautionary measures. No indications now warrant the closure of any part of the Sultanate, said the minister, who confirmed the ongoing epidemiological monitoring of the situation in the Sultanate. If ever the supreme committee decides any lockdown anywhere in the Sultanate, it will be in limited areas, said Dr. Ahmed. He pointed out that imported cases of infection were very high, constituting 60 percent of the registered cases.
