The government is apparently keen to stock up on vaccines as it would require around 7 million doses of vaccines to provide two doses of vaccines to each of the 3.4 million people who will have to be vaccinated in order to achieve the 70 percent of population target that global health authorities recommend to achieve immunity in a community.
While the exact number of vaccines administered and the number of people fully vaccinated with two doses were not clear, it is estimated that at least 3 million doses of vaccine have been administered as of mid-June, with 73 doses given per 100 people in the six months since the vaccination campaign was launched in late December 2020.
Last Monday, the Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed that it received the first consignment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines via the Vaccine Alliance, formerly known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi).
The Vaccine Alliance is a joint public-private global health partnership that aims to increase access to vaccines in poor countries. While it was not clear why Kuwait had received the vaccines, Dr. Abdullah Al-Badr, the health assistant undersecretary for pharmaceutical affairs and medical equipment at MoH, said in a statement that the shipment was the first to be taken by Kuwait through Gavi.
He added that coordination is also underway to take delivery of vaccines from other platforms via Gavi soon, in line with contracts worked out by the MoH. The shipment handover is part of continuous efforts to speed up momentum of vaccinations against COVID-19 and to back up the ministry action for securing the vaccines needed to reach the aspired objectives of the national immunization campaign.
In the meantime, MoH has also received approval from the Central Agency for Public Tenders to contract with Janssen Pharmaceuticals for 200,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson ( J and J) vaccine against Coronavirus. The supply contract, which is estimated to cost around KD602,000 has been referred to the State Audit Bureau for final approval and its supply over the coming months.
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