MANILA— There is strong demand for health workers in Oman but interested applicants must be vaccinated, a labor official said Friday.

There are at least 350 job openings for nurses that pay around P50,000 a month, Labor Attaché Gregorio Abalos of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Oman said in a virtual briefing.

Applicants must be vaccinated but Abalos said there are several preferred brands accepted for those seeking entry in the country, and the list excludes Sinovac.

“Initially Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca. But as time went on, Sept. 1, they lifted the deployment ban dito (here), they said Johnson & Johnson. I think except Sinovac, Sinovac ang hindi kasama ( is not included)," he said.

Interested applicants are only allowed to travel to Oman 14 days after their final vaccine dose, he said.

The Philippines earlier imposed a cap on the deployment of health care workers as the demand surged locally due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other countries are lobbying to raise the cap on the deployment of nurses.

Germany, for one, is seeking exemption from the cap since most applicants have already spent time and money on the requirements such as its language certification, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Stefan Schmitz earlier said.

• Germany 'lobbying' for exemption on PH health care deployment cap: chamber
• ‘Unneccessary’, ‘unjust’: Nurses’ group reiterates appeal to end deployment ban

Nurses' groups have also been appealing to the government to lift the cap saying it's their right to seek better opportunities abroad. Many health workers in the country are complaining of low salaries, which is the main reason for seeking opportunities abroad.

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— with a report from Warren De Guzman, ABS-CBN News