Saudi Gazette report

MUSCAT — Oman has administered the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to more than 2,000 people after the sultanate launched the countrywide vaccination campaign on Sunday to target the elderly.

In a statement carried by the Omani News Agency (ONA) on Monday, the country’s health ministry said that a total of 2,101 people were vaccinated with Oxford-AstraZeneca within 24 hours, covering 3 percent of the target group

.

The campaign is aimed at immunizing people aged 65 and above in all governorates of the sultanate, irrespective of their health status. The vaccine will be administered in the designated centers.

A period of 4 to 6 weeks separates the first and second dose, after which the vaccine will take 7 to 14 days to take effect. Yet, people who received the first dose of Pfizer-bioNTech will not be given Oxford-AstraZeneca, the statement read.

The health ministry will announce the date of the second dose of the Pfizer-bioNTech vaccine at a later date, the statement added.