Oman has ordered 200,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, amid rising concern as infections continue to increase, the health minister said.
"The situation is worrying and painful because since mid-January the [infection] numbers have started to escalate. Intensive care units are under pressure again," Health Minister Dr Ahmed Al Saeedi said on Thursday.
The minister said beaches and parks would remain closed indefinitely.
“People still don’t grasp the concept of Covid-19 and they don’t see what is going around the world," Dr Al Saeedi said.
"Some of them even refuse to get a vaccination, for reasons we don't understand, despite our assurances that vaccination is safe and good for them."
The Ministry of Health reported 288 cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the total in the sultanate to 140,588.
Four people died from the virus on Thursday, raising the death toll to 1,562.
The number of patients being treated in hospital rose by 29 to 192 over the previous 24 hours, including 68 in intensive care units.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be offered to people below the age of 66 and school teachers, according to the health ministry.
The first and second consignments of vaccines received by Oman were only available to over-65s, people with underlying medical issues and medical staff.
The sultanate began its inoculation campaign with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on December 7, reaching 30,000 people.
The second phase of vaccinations kicked off this month with 100,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, made under licence by the Serum Institute of India.
Oman on Thursday imposed a 15-day ban on entry for travellers from 10 countries, in efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus – in particular certain mutated strains.
The countries on the list are: Sudan, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia.
Oman introduced a seven-day mandatory hotel quarantine for all arrivals on February 15.
