Oman

Oman: COVID vaccination for children to begin soon

Dr. Adil Said Al Wahaibi, Director of Epidemiological Surveillance Department at the Ministry of Health, said that the ministry plans to administer  COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 5 to 11 years and that 11 such vaccines have been approved.

Speaking about the difference between schools and mosques, he said the staff at schools can help manage things more easily than their counterparts at mosques, which are frequented by elderly people, said Dr. Adil, noting that probability of infections at mosques are greater.

Badr Saif Al Rawahi, Director of the Contagious Diseases Department at the Ministry of Health, said the ministry accessed 90 percent of the target segment (those above 12 years) and found that many needed to be inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines, which means we cannot claim to have accomplished our 100 percent vaccination goal.

As for the fourth dose, a team has been tasked by the ministry to study the recommendations and priorities, said Al Rawahi, adding that the ministry is currently mulling the option of vaccinating children between 5 and 11 years.

The fourth booster dose is recommended, if need be, only for low-immunity segments, depending on the overall community immunity and the stability of the epidemiological situation, locally and abroad, said Al Rawahi.

The health minister also said that the number of booked doses stood at 8,031,006 while the ministry received 7,544,929 and administered 6,997,913 doses.

Among expatriates, 97 percent took the first dose, 89 percent took the second and 39 percent the third.

While no confirmed direct links have been established between COVID-19 vaccines and cardiac diseases, no serious side-effects have been detected among those who received the first or second dose in Oman.

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Source
Times Of Oman

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