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Don’t listen to rumours on vaccines: Oman's Ministry of Health tells people

Oman Wednesday 10/March/2021 20:08 PM
By: Times News Service
Don’t listen to rumours on vaccines: Oman's Ministry of Health tells people
A big challenge to combating coronavirus is anti-vaccination campaigns on social media, as for some people a video clip can have more credibility than the word of officials and experts.

Muscat: The reluctance of some people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is due to their conviction in the conspiracy theory, and the decision to close commercial activities will contribute to limiting the spread of virus strains, an official from the Ministry of Health stated.

Dr Faryal Al Lawati, a consultant of infectious diseases at the Royal Hospital, said, “The latest clinical research conducted in Britain on the AstraZeneca vaccine proved its effectiveness by 90 per cent, and the reason for some people’s reluctance to take vaccinations is because some of them have a conspiracy theory or as a result of a comparison between one vaccine and another or between the countries that produce the vaccine.”

“One of the big challenges to combating the spread of the coronavirus today is the anti-vaccination campaigns, as a video clip against vaccination may spread and spread widely among people and have more credibility than the speech of senior officials and experts in the health sector,” added Al Lawati in interview with Oman TV.

Dr Faryal Al Lawati stressed, “The Supreme Committee’s decision to close all commercial activities will help encourage social distancing, and thus there will be less opportunity for the spread of different strains of corona or even the spread of the virus itself.”

Meanwhile, the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in the Sultanate reached 144,831 while the number of recoveries stood at 135,005, comprising 93.2 per cent.

The total number of Covid-19 related death cases stood at 1,597, the Ministry of Health said.

The Ministry also pointed out that 22 cases were hospitalised over the past 24 hours, adding that the total number of current hospitalized COVID-19-infected patients stands at 210, of them 75 are in intensive care units (ICU).