H1N1 vaccination set to begin today in Oman

MUSCAT: Vaccination campaign for H1N1 flu will begin here today (October 25) making Oman the first country in the region to receive and administer the flu vaccines, officials announced yesterday. Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saidi, Under-Secretary, Minister for Health Affairs, Dr. Ali bin Jaafar bin Mohammed, advisor to the Ministry of Health Affairs and Dr Jihane F Tawilah, WHO representative, Sultanate of Oman will among the first residents to receive the shots at the Al Hail Health Centre. Residents across the Sultanate will be administered with vaccine in the coming days. However, among the 100,000 doses of Novartis vaccine that arrived on October 19th in Oman the first few shots have been earmarked for Haj pilgrims and healthcare workers on a priority basis. Following them the vaccine will be administered to people in essential services, pregnant women, people of all ages with chronic diseases, children more than six months to less than two years, children more than two years to less than six years (pre-school), children more than 6 years to 18 years (school). All healthy people above the age of 18 years i.e. the rest of the healthy people in the community including students of colleges and educational institutes will be administered. Oman will receive more batches of vaccines in the coming months and by the end of March 2010, it would have received 2.6 million doses. GlaxoSmithKline’s H1N1 vaccines are expected to arrive next week. The challenge for health authorities continues to be to convince citizens on the safety of the vaccine. Speaking at a press conference here yesterday Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Obaid Al Saidi said, “We will not give a vaccine that is not safe. Rumours about the effectiveness and safety of the new influenza vaccines are being circulated in the community.” Urging residents not to fall prey to rumours, Dr Saidi said, “the MOH has never bought any products that have not been tried, tested, researched and registered in the country it was produced.” Informing that Novartis and GSK’s vaccine will be administered intramuscularly as a single-dose shot on the upper arm, the Dr Saidi said, “One dose is enough for people over the age of 10. However, children under the age of 10 might get two doses,” Al Saidi said. Dr. Ali bin Jaafar bin Mohammed, who is also a member of an international body that studies vaccines said that the Sultanate has been taking part in several meetings worldwide to discuss the vaccines. “We are in touch with international bodies and World Health Organisations who have a long experience on vaccines. Besides, we would not buy the vaccines from unregistered companies,” he said. Asking people not to be mislead Dr Ali said, “In consideration of the Ministry’s concerns to safeguard public health and safety and provide all measure to prevent transmission of the disease, we urge all citizens and residents in the Sultanate to get vaccinated.” MOH officials also said immunization is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions for many of the communicable diseases. They pointed out that the intractable and killer diseases like smallpox, tetanus, diphtheria, poliomyelitis and many others do not pose a risk today and their burden substantially decreased due to the development of specific vaccines. Dr. Ali bin Jaafar bin Mohammed clarified that those who have been infected with H1N1 virus need not get vaccinated. “However those cases not confirmed by laboratory can take the vaccine,” he added. The Ministry of Health officials also said that no one will be forced to take the vaccination. They also ensured that there will be no discrimination between expatriates and citizens on giving the vaccinations. Dr Jihane F Tawilah clarified that no serious side effects were reported so far in people who have received it across the world which includes in Japan and China besides other countries. “Studies have found that the vaccine is good at preventing swine flu,” she said. “The flu shot itself a dead vaccine. There is nothing alive in it and you cannot get the flu from it,” she added. The Ministry of Health also reaffirmed that according to the scientific studies the expected side effects associated with the new vaccine are not different from those associated with other vaccines. These effects can be summarised as local effects such as pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, mild fever and headache. These are simple transient symptoms which may last for a day or two from the date of injection. According to the WHO licensed vaccines, including influenza vaccines, are held to a very high standard of safety. “Likewise, all possible precautions will be taken to ensure safety of new pandemic vaccines and results from clinical trials, currently ongoing or soon to be initiated, will be taken into consideration by the regulatory authorities in their decision to license pandemic vaccines. WHO has held consultation of experts who reviewed the safety of adjuvants, or substances added to vaccines to make them more effective; no significant safety concerns were identified. Vaccine safety will be carefully monitored through post-marketing surveillance,” Dr Jihane added. “Rumours of side effects of the vaccines are spreading faster than the epidemic itself but we should not give an ear to them,” said Dr Jihane. The Sultanate has recorded over 2428 laboratory confirmed cases until now. 24 deaths were reported along with several mild cases treated without laboratory testing and many others recovered without medical intervention.