Oman on Thursday started a drive-through vaccination campaign to encourage more people to get inoculated against Covid-19.
The health ministry also ordered private hospitals to “immediately start mobile vaccination units in all major areas of the country”, state-run Oman Television reported.
The ministry plans to "make it mandatory in the near future for students applying for universities to get vaccinated or they will not be admitted," the report said.
The ministry last week told companies to arrange with private hospitals to vaccinate their employees as part of the compulsory inoculation process.
The measures are the result of a slow uptake of vaccines in Oman, with only about 30 per cent of the population inoculated since the vaccination programme began in January, the health ministry said.
The reasons for the slow uptake are vaccine delays, availability issues in smaller towns and general scepticism, the ministry said.
People queueing at the only drive-through vaccination centre in Muscat on Thursday said the turnout was lower than expected.
"We must congratulate the Ministry of Health's efforts to start the drive-through vaccinations but [fewer than] 100 cars are here today. I would have thought there would have been a long queue of at least 500 vehicles," said Hamida Al Junaibi, 47, who was waiting for her jab.
The drive-through centre is the first of many, the government said, but did not give a timeline for the rollout.
"We are a little disappointed with the turnout today, maybe because not many people are aware of it. We will be campaigning more vigorously in the coming days and open up very soon more such centres, not only in Muscat, but other towns, too," a ministry of health spokesman told The National.
Despite 2,467 deaths from Covid-19 in the sultanate since the start of the pandemic, some Omanis believe vaccination is unnecessary.
“Covid-19 is like any normal flu where you get sick, then you get better a week later. The reason why they are making a noise about it is because doctors are convinced by vaccine manufacturers that everybody needs it so they can make a lot of money from the hysteria,” said Nabeel Al Jahdhami, 52.
Oman on Thursday announced 1,640 new cases and 19 more deaths. The number of cases admitted to hospital rose by 164 to 1,065, including 345 in intensive care.
The total number of cases reached 230,219.
After nearly two months of restrictions after a third wave of infections, Oman on June 2 allowed wedding halls to resume receptions, opened parks, beaches, exhibitions and mosques, and allowed shops to stay open after 8pm.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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