Hello! Or should I say, Marhaba! My first post is not very exciting, but rather important. I had always planned to write about our experiences in Oman but had never gotten around to it for some reason or another. When we went to complete the task of Cutie Baby having her 4 month vaccinations and fell into so much confusion over such an essential matter, I realised it was now or never. I had to share this on the world wide web for the sake of others who would come to the same situation.

Please note that although I spent most of my pregnancy in Oman, I went overseas for the delivery and Cutie Baby was not born in Oman. I returned to Oman with her when she was 6 weeks old. For this reason, her birth and 6-8 week vaccinations were administered abroad.

This is the childhood vaccination schedule suggested in Oman:

This was given to us at Burjeel Medical Centre, where we go for Cutie Baby’s regular check-ups. Some vaccines on this list are not provided by the government and so if you chose for your child to have these you would have to pay for this at a private hospital or medical centre. It is possible your health insurance may cover these costs, unfortunately ours did not. Please refer to the picture below for a list of vaccines offered by the government.

Parents are provided with this Child Health Record book. Ask your child’s doctor for this if you have not already received this.

All children who are residents in Oman are entitled to these vaccinations for free. The items on this list are not inclusive of all items on the above Burjeel list or those offered in other countries of course, such as Cutie Baby’s country of birth. For example, we decided to also give her the Rotarix (Rotavirus) second dose (she had already received the first dose in her country of birth) which we had to pay for. Also, the BCG is not routinely given in Cutie Baby’s country of birth but is here. Due to the fact that we had missed this at birth, we had to pay to have the BCG administered now. If Cutie Baby had been born here, she would have been given the BCG at birth for free. Here are some prices, courtesy of my husband’s research:

Al Hayat International Hospital
Rotarix: 35 OMR
BCG: 5 OMR

Burjeel Medical Centre
Rotarix: 30 OMR
BCG: 10 OMR

Muscat Private Hospital
Rotarix: 30 OMR
BCG: 5 OMR

Here is the process from what we have gathered:

• Your child needs to be assessed by a doctor who will provide you with a vaccination fitness letter if all is well.

• You take this letter to your nearest MoH (Ministry of Health) centre. It has to be your designated branch. This does not necessarily mean it is the nearest one to you in distance as it depends on the area you live in. You can find a list of these health centres here.

We visited our local branch, only to be told another branch covered our area. This is a government establishment and has no connection to private hospitals. You must take your child’s identification and birth documents (passport, birth certificate, visa documents) and a utility bill (for proof of address as you are going to your area branch) with you. You must arrive before 2pm so that you are seen on the same day. The earlier the better of course.

• After registering at reception you will be told to go to the EPI room. Here a doctor will look over your records and your fitness letter. A nurse administers the vaccinations and hopefully you (and baby!) will be good to go!

It took us three days of visits back and forth and a McDonald’s break to figure all of this out. I hope the process will be a lot smoother for you!