COVID-19: Kuwait green lights vaccinating children aged 12 to 15

Kuwait City: During a press conference on Tuesday, Kuwait’s Ministry of Health announced the vaccination committee has approved administering the COVID-19 vaccine to children between the ages of 12 and 15.

Dr. Mustafa Reda, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, registration will open for the specified age group in July and they will start getting vaccinated in August, in time for their return to in-person schooling in September.

In addition, the vaccination committee is reviewing the possibility of administering the vaccine to pregnant women who are willing and able to take it.

The vaccination campaign is ongoing as Dr. Mustafa stated that on Monday the Ministry of Health vaccinated 43,000 people, the highest number of people vaccinated in one day.

Power of vaccine

Clarifying the importance of being vaccinated, Dr. Khaled Al Saeed, a member of the COVID-19 vaccination committee, stated the jab protects against hospitalisation and death.

He explained that 99.1 per cent of people in Kuwait who passed away due to COVID-19 were not vaccinated. In addition, 90.5 per cent of all COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital were not vaccinated and 89.4 per cent of patients in intensive care were unvaccinated.

Dr. Khaled pointed to a study published by Public Health of England that indicated both vaccines being administered in Kuwait provide significant protection against hospitalisation and protect against different variants. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine provides 92 per cent protection and the Pfizer-BioNTech provides 94 per cent.

Delta variant

On Monday, the spokesman of Kuwait’s Ministry of Health, Dr. Abdullah Al Sanad, announced they detected a number of the Delta variant (also called Indian variant) in Kuwait.

Al Sanad said during Tuesday’s press conference that all citizens and residents should continue adhering to health measures, especially since the new variant was discovered, and not panic.