COVID-19: 388,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine arrive in Kuwait

Kuwait City: After a slight delay in the arrival of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shipment due to a worldwide shortage, Kuwait received the third batch containing around 388,000 doses.

The shipment was widely anticipated as hundreds of thousands of residents and citizens await the second dose of the Oxford vaccine.

For those that have surpassed the 12-week mark, the Ministry of Health will begin sending out messages with the date, location and time in the next few days.

Delayed shots

Last week, the Ministry of Health decided to postpone the second dose of both the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Oxford vaccine.

Those that got the Oxford vaccine will be given the second dose between three to four months after the first one, instead of 12 weeks after the first dose.

As for the Pfizer vaccine, the second dose will be given six weeks after the first one, except for those who are above the age of 60, who will continue to receive it after 21 days.

Vaccination progress

After the Ministry of Health approved the emergency use of the Oxford vaccine on January 29, Kuwait received the first shipment of the Oxford vaccine back on February 1 and the second shipment on April 3. The Pfizer vaccine was approved earlier and thus Kuwait first began its vaccination campaign on December 24.

According to local media reports, around 1.4 million doses have been given between both the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines.

In the past two months, Kuwait has ramped up its vaccination campaign as it opened 22 vaccination centers across the country, launched mobile vaccination units to vaccinate the bedridden and workers in various sectors and announced they will be opening a drive thru vaccination center after Ramadan.