Cairo: Around 190,000 illegal expatriates in Kuwait have no access to COVID-19 vaccines raising concerns in the country that is struggling to curtail the spread of the disease and achieve community immunity.
Earlier this month, Kuwait extended a grace period by an additional month for illegal foreign residents in the country due now to expire on May 15.
Interior Minister Thamer Al Ali decreed the extension on humanitarian and health grounds, security sources said.
“This came due to repercussions of the coronavirus crisis and the airport shutdowns in many countries. It also offers the chance for modifying the illegal status to allow the foreign resident to get vaccinated against the virus,” a security source said.
“The recent spike in infection rates among the foreign residents sounds the alarm about the illegals who cannot take the vaccines because the validity of their residency permits has expired. They are now unable to register via the Health Ministry’s website,” the source. “This threatens they will pose health and security perils to society.”
Mass vaccinations
Kuwait, a country of 4.7 million population, kicked off mass vaccinations against COVID-19 in December.
Despite the inoculation campaign and the stringent virus-related restrictions in Kuwait, an uptick in infections has recently been seen in the country.
Kuwait so far has confirmed a tally of 256,404 virus cases and 1,511 related fatalities.
In an attempt to accelerate inoculation,authorities have recently launched mobile vaccination units targeting workers in mosques and in different commercial activities having direct contacts with the general public.
