COVID-19: Kuwait to buy one million more Moderna vaccine doses

Kuwait City: The Ministry of Health’s request to increase the shipment of the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine from one million doses to two million doses has been approved by Kuwait’s financial regulatory agency, the Central Agency for Public Tenders (CAPT), local media reported.

An official told the daily that CAPT approved the request which is valued at $80 million, which is roughly 24 million Kuwaiti dinars. The price of a single dose is around $40, which is equivalent to about 12 Kuwaiti dinars.

While the Ministry of Health has not yet granted the US manufactured vaccine authorisation, back in June, the Minister of Health, Dr. Basel Al Sabah, announced that Kuwait has contracted Moderna to supply vaccines.

So far, Kuwait has given emergency authorisation for use of the Pfizer-BioNTech, the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The request comes as Kuwait is ramping its vaccination campaign to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. Last week, health officials pointed out that Kuwait is on track to reach herd immunity, more than 70 per cent of the population will be vaccinated soon.

Those eligible for a vaccine are anybody above the age of 12.

As of last Monday, based on data revealed by the government, more than 2.5 million residents received at least the first jab. According to 2020 population figures by Kuwait’s Central Statistical Bureau, there are 3.8 million citizens and residents living in Kuwait who are above the age of 10.