Kuwait City: With Kuwait putting in place a decision tying entry into commercial centres to proof of vaccination, in the past few days there has been a spike in registrations as people are eager to get vaccinated in order to gain access to various places, local media reported.
Health officials have stated that since the mandate went into effect on Sunday, around 5,000 people a day are registering for the vaccine, a huge increase compared to the last few months.
Within the first 24 hours of the decision, around 40,000 people were vaccinated, the majority of which received the jab at the main vaccination centre at the Mishref Fairground.
As of Sunday, only people who have received one or both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are allowed entry into malls, restaurants, cafes, salons and gyms.
Those who are exempt from the decision are business owners and children under the eligible age. Pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses are allowed in provided they have the proper documentation from the Ministry of Health to prove it.
No vaccine, no entry
The Kuwait Municipality stated that any businesses found allowing unvaccinated individuals to enter will be fined 5,000 Kuwaiti dinars.
Inspectors have been positioned at the entry of all commercial entities to check each person’s vaccination status via the Immune application or the Kuwait Mobile ID app.
To ensure things are running smoothly, security forces from the Ministry of Interior have been stationed at large shopping malls.
Push back
While around 3 million doses have been administered to around 3 million eligible people, there is still hesitation amongst some with regards to taking the vaccine.
Several demonstrations have been held in Kuwait against making vaccines mandatory. The latest demonstration took place on Saturday, with many registering their disapproval of vaccines.
Vaccination centres
The Ministry of Health has recently allocated 10 new vaccination centres to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech jabs, two in each of the five health zones.
As for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, it is being administered at around 30 health centres across Kuwait, including at the drive-thru vaccination centre at the South Island on the Al Jaber Causeway Bridge.
