Muscat: The Sultanate’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to treat COVID-19 patients requiring emergency attention in Oman.

The Ministry of Health, represented by the Directorate General of Pharmaceutical Affairs and Drug Control, approved Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) against COVID-19 in individuals 16 years of age and older.

This approval is part of the Ministry’s efforts to ensure the facilitation and acceleration of the provision of the vaccine in the Sultanate for EUA according to the policies approved by the Ministry.

The Directorate General of Pharmaceutical Affairs and Drug Control has evaluated the efficacy and safety studies presented by the US Pfizer company upon its receipt on 26 November 2020.

It concluded that the known and potential benefits of the vaccine outweigh the expected risks and after the vaccine was approved by the health authorities in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the US Food and Drug Administration.

The vaccine will be given in two doses, with a three-week interval.

The relevant studies included the safety data available in the clinical studies conducted on about 38,000 participants.

The side effects of the vaccine were monitored for two months after receiving the second dose. The most common side effects were the same side effects associating with any another known vaccine.