Kuwait to import COVID-19 vaccine in private planes
Once they arrive in Kuwait they will be transferred to refrigerated containers
Kuwait City: As Kuwait waits for the Pfizer vaccine to be approved, health officials are starting to map out how the vaccine will be imported into Kuwait given that it needs to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius.
The Ministry of Health stated that it is fully prepared to import any vaccine in accordance with the regulatory procedures put in place to ensure the safety of the vaccine, Al Qabas reported.
A health source told Al Qabas that the vaccine will be transported in private planes that are equipped with cooling storages. Then once they arrive in Kuwait they will be transferred to refrigerated containers, in the Ministry’s warehouse in Sabhan, where they were being stored in a temperature controlled environment.
Public hospitals and administrative health centers will also be equipped with refrigerated stores.
The source added that they will be following the cold chain system, which is a temperature-controlled supply chain that maintains the required temperature during the transport of a product.
Kuwait and the Pfizer vaccine
After leading drug-maker Pfizer and biotechnology firm BioNTech announced last week that the COVID-19 vaccine they are working has proven to be more than 90 per cent effective, Kuwait’s Ministry of Health stated that it has ordered around one million doses.
A source told Al Rai the vaccines are expected to arrive in Kuwait in batches, with around 150,000 arriving in the first batch when approved.
Another source told Al Qabas the decision to import the vaccine will depend on Pfizer obtaining official approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
According to the New York Times, Pfizer is planning on asking the FDA for emergency approval later this month.
The first batch of vaccines will be reserved for the elderly, individuals with chronic diseases and frontline workers, the source added.