COVID-19: New teachers’ entry into Kuwait hits snag

Cairo: Hundreds of teachers, recently hired by private foreign schools in Kuwait, are facing trouble in entering the country, a local newspaper reported citing education sources.

The problem lies in a government requirement that expatriates must register their vaccination certificates on the Kuwaiti Health Ministry’s website, logging in with civil ID numbers, the sources added, explaining that the new recruits have no such designation.

“Because these teachers are new, new work visas have been issued for them. The majority of them hold foreign and not Arab nationalities,” one source said.

“Continuation of the current situation obligating all expatriates to log on with the civil ID number in order to get their vaccination certificates accredited, will result in delaying the entry of thousands of expatriates, including teachers, who hold new work visas without the civil number,” the source added, according to Al Jarida newspaper.

“So, it is important to modify the mechanism for approving the expatriates’ vaccination certificates by excluding the civil number requirement,” the source said.

There was no immediate comment from Kuwaiti authorities.

As of August 1, Kuwait has allowed vaccinated foreign residents, who have valid residency permits to enter the country, lifting a ban of nearly six months.

Expatriates inoculated abroad with vaccines approved in Kuwait are required to get their vaccination certificates accredited by uploading them on the Health Ministry’s website while proving electronically they have received the jabs before boarding their flights heading to Kuwait.

On arrival in Kuwait, they need to complete registration via the Shlonik app and the Kuwait Musafar platform.

Vaccines recognised in Kuwait are two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna and one dose of Johnson & Johnson.