DUBAI: Fresh COVID-19 vaccine supplies are accelerating inoculations in Oman, which has had the slowest rollout in the Gulf due to procurement difficulties, a government health official said, as a surge in cases puts hospitals under pressure.
“The situation is now changing, we are regularly now receiving stocks of vaccine ... the campaign again has started,” Zahir Ghassan Al-Abri, of the General Directorate of Primary Health Care at Oman’s Ministry of Health, told Reuters.
Since it began vaccinating in May, Oman has given at least one dose to around 15 percent of the eligible population, said Abri. Ministry of health data on Tuesday shows 720,199 doses have been given in the country of around 4.5 million people, with 184,621 people having received two doses.
Reuters analysis, based on the number of vaccinations administered per total population assuming every person needs two doses, shows Oman to be lagging far behind its neighbors.
The United Arab Emirates’ more than 14 million administered doses is enough to have vaccinated about 72.6 percent of the country of around 9.8 million. Oman by comparison has administered enough to have vaccinated about 6.1 percent of the country.
Kuwait, which also experienced some procurement delays, has administered enough to have vaccinated about 21.6 percent of the country.
Abri said the slow campaign was due to supply difficulties.
“As with other countries the delivery of these vaccines has not been met through the agreed timeline for different reasons.”
Oman offers the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines. It has not approved the shot produced by China’s state-owned Sinopharm, which the UAE used in its early, rapid rollout after hosting Phase III clinical trials.
Asked whether Oman plans to introduce other vaccines, including Sinopharm, Abri said they would be considered as long as they met government standards.
“The strategy adopted by the ministry of health since the beginning is selecting vaccines based on reports of efficacy and safety, as approved by research and guidelines published by different international organizations.”
Cases in Oman have trended upwards since January, with a pronounced surge since a dip in early May.
It has recorded 242,723 cases and 2,626 deaths in total. On Thursday it reported 2,015 new cases.
Oman’s media this week said hospitals nationwide were straining under rising cases. A main field hospital in the capital Muscat was at more than 90 percent capacity, state media said.
Aiming to vaccinate everyone 12 and over by the end of the year, Oman will on Sunday offer shots to people over 45.
Oman, slowest vaccinator in the Gulf, pushes campaign amid COVID-19 surge
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Oman, slowest vaccinator in the Gulf, pushes campaign amid COVID-19 surge
- The UAE’s more than 14 million administered doses is enough to have vaccinated about 72.6 percent of the country of around 9.8 million
- Oman by comparison has administered enough to have vaccinated about 6.1 percent of the country of around 5 million
Trump plans to announce Gaza funding plan, troops at first Board of Peace meeting, US officials say
- Deployment of the International Stabilization Force is a key part of the next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan, announced in September
- Delegations from at least 20 countries, including many heads of state, are expected to attend the meeting in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a UN-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave at the first formal meeting of his Board of Peace next week, two senior US officials said on Thursday.
Delegations from at least 20 countries, including many heads of state, are expected to attend the meeting in Washington, D.C., which Trump will chair on February 19, the officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The details on Trump’s plans for the first meeting of his Board of Peace for Gaza have not been previously reported.
Trump signed documents in Davos, Switzerland, on January 23 establishing the Board of Peace. The board’s creation was endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of Trump’s Gaza plan.
While regional Middle East powers, including Turkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as major emerging nations such as Indonesia, have joined the board, global powers and traditional Western US allies have been more cautious. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday during his visit to Washington that Israel has joined the board. Trump has stirred concerns that the Board of Peace might try to resolve other conflicts around the world and compete with the United Nations. The US officials said the meeting next week will focus solely on Gaza. They said a central part of the meeting will be Trump’s announcement of a multi-billion-dollar fund for Gaza, which will include monetary contributions from participating board members. One official called the offers “generous” and said that the United States had not made any explicit requests for donations. “People have come to us offering,” the official said. “The president will make announcements vis a vis the money raised.”
Stabilization force
Deployment of the International Stabilization Force is a key part of the next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan, announced in September. Under the first phase, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year-old war began on October 10 and Hamas has released hostages while Israel has freed detained Palestinians.
Trump will announce that several countries plan to provide several thousand troops to the stabilization force that is expected to deploy in Gaza in the months ahead, the officials said.
A primary concern for now is disarming Hamas fighters who have been reluctant to give up their weapons. Under Trump’s Gaza plan, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries, under the plan.
The Board of Peace meetings will also include detailed reports on the work of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which was established to take over the day-to-day civil administration of Gaza Strip from Hamas. The committee announced its members and held its first meeting in January.
Other updates will cover humanitarian aid for Gaza as well as the Gaza police, the officials said.
