Kuwait approves emergency use of Pfizer vaccine

Kuwait’s Ministry of Health has approved the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, a ministry official confirmed on Sunday, December 13.

Dr Abdullah Al-Bader, assistant undersecretary for Pharmaceutical and Food Supervision, said in a statement reported by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) that a joint committee of the medicine registration and supervision department and the public health department for the evaluation and registration of vaccines approved the emergency use of the vaccine.

He added that the committee’s decision followed a thorough review of the safety and quality specifications of the vaccine.

The committee also reviewed results of clinical trials. Bader emphasized that the health ministry will closely monitor the safety of the vaccine following its use to ensure the wellbeing of the public.

As of December 13, Kuwait has reported 146,218 Covid-19 cases including 911 deaths.

Several other GCC countries have approved Covid-19 vaccines for use in their respective countries.

Read: UAE approves China’s Sinopharm vaccine for use

Bahrain approved the registration of the Sinopharm Group vaccine against the coronavirus, about a week after the UAE registered the Chinese-made vaccine too. Bahrain has confimred that it will administer the vaccine for free to all residents and citizens above the age of 18 within the country.

Read also: Bahrain approves China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine

Saudi Arabia’s health authority approved the registration of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the kingdom.

Read more: Saudi approves registration of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine