MUSCAT — Oman's health ministry on Sunday began the second immunization dose against coronavirus, giving Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to target segments that received the first dose over the past few weeks in different parts of the Sultanate, the Oman News Agency (ONA) reported. After receiving the second dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 at Bausher Polyclinic, Oman's Health Minister Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Sa'eedi reaffirmed that no side-effects were reported among recipients of the first dose, noting that the number of doses stood at 38,900. In a statement to ONA, the minister pointed out that the period separating the two doses is 3 weeks that can be extended to 4 weeks, a formality applicable in some countries of the world. He said that the first phase of the national COVID-19 immunization campaign saw a large turnout. The minister added that the level of coverage in the Muscat governorate stood at 100 percent, while the rest of the governorates in the Sultanate showed very high rates of coverage. He pointed out that the factor that limits vaccination in Oman is not the financial cost or logistics, but the availability of the vaccine, which sees a large global rush. He hoped that more vaccines would be made available to cover the most vulnerable groups. He pointed out that the new variant is very fast in spreading, but its riskiness is not different from the mother virus and its response to vaccination is the same. The minister stressed that all individuals and communities should stick to precautionary measures to keep the virus at bay. As many as 24,773 target people were vaccinated during the first phase of the campaign targeting most prone segments like people suffering chronic diseases, the elderly, and frontline operators, according to the health ministry. The ministry also said it will go ahead with the second dose and will update the target segments through scheduled awareness programs via the media so that all vaccinated ones could get the second dose within prescribed timeframes. Oman has so far reported 132,011 cases of coronavirus and 124,213 recoveries, comprising 94.1 percent. It has also recorded 1,514 virus-related deaths.
