Kuwait’s health ministry to notify availability for second dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine

Kuwait’s Ministry of Health will inform those who received the first jab of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine about the new date for their second shot when the country receives a new shipment of the vaccine, it announced on Tuesday.

The decision was taken as vaccine producers, particularly AstraZeneca, may delay the delivery of the new shipment due to the growing global demand for the vaccine, Bouthina Al-Mudhaf – undersecretary for Public Health at the ministry – told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

She also stressed that the ministry had not taken a decision to change the type of vaccine in the second shot.

Kuwait has been urging citizens and residents to get vaccinated, although it has been facing a shortage of shots.

Earlier this week, the ministry also confirmed that it would delay appointments for the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to up to six weeks after the first dose due to shipment delays. For those above 60 and with underlying conditions, the timeframe between both doses would be three weeks.

Meanwhile, it also announced that a travel ban will be imposed on Kuwaitis and their first degree relatives and domestic helpers as of May 22, if they do not receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Read: Covid-19: Kuwait to impose travel ban on unvaccinated citizens as of May 22

Kuwait recorded 1,253 new coronavirus infections and 11 deaths on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in the country to 279,085 and fatalities to 1,601 respectively.

It also recorded 1,213 recoveries, with total recoveries at 262,582.