Muscat: The quickly-mutating COVID-19 virus has over 4,000 known mutations and several strains, as per Oman’s Minister of Health.

In a press conference on Monday [December 21], Oman’s Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Saeedi, stated that RNA viruses mutate fast.

He added: “Viruses in general and RNA viruses, in particular, mutate fast. More than 4,000 mutations of COVID-19 have been registered since it first began to propagate.”

Dr. Ahmed also stressed that, so far, no evidence corroborates the claim that the new variant of COVID-19 is more fierce or more dangerous than the mother virus.

He emphasised that the available vaccines will have the same response to the mother virus. The minister reiterated that the Health Ministry will prioritise target groups that are eligible to the doses during the first phase, noting that these groups include patients suffering chronic diseases and the medical staff.