Third dose essential to fight Covid variants

As the effectiveness of the vaccine doses will subside over a period, it is essential to take the third or booster dose, the officials at the Ministry of Health (MoH) have said.

The officials added that studies have not yet figured out whether the symptoms of the Omicron strain are more severe than the symptoms of previous variants, including that of the Delta variant.

The MoH officials have warned that people will be exposed to a lack of antibodies that were acquired due to contracting of the disease or from taking vaccines.

Dr Feryal bint Ali al Lawati of the Royal Hospital said in an interview that it is approved to take the third dose of a different vaccine than the two doses that were taken initially.

For now, 63 countries have reported the Omicron, and while the UK announced the death of a person infected with the variant on Monday.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced the registration of the first two cases of the new Omicron from citizens coming from abroad.

The health conditions of the patients are said to be stable, and they are currently under epidemiological surveillance.

The Directorate General of Health Services in Muscat Governorate said that the booster or the third dose for citizens will be available at the Old Muscat Airport building, which was also the field hospital for Covid-19 treatment in the past.

“Expatriates also can take the first or the second dose at the Old Muscat Airport building during official working hours.” The other centers for vaccinations are the health centers in Al Khuwair, Amerat, Muscat and Quriyat. Timings are 8 am to 8 pm.

The Supreme Committee on Sunday said that there has been a significant increase in the number of cases in various countries due to Omicron, including the number of inpatients in wards and intensive care units, in addition to deaths in some countries.

While there was a slight increase in positive cases in the Sultanate, the percentage of patients being admitted to hospital and ICUs have been low due to the high rate of immunization, with nearly 93 percent of the target groups taking the single dose of the vaccine.