KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Ministry of Health (MoH) announced that 200,000 doses of the UK-based AstraZeneca with the University of Oxford vaccine against COVID-19 arrived in the country at dawn yesterday. In a press statement, Assistant Undersecretary for Drug and Food Control Affairs Dr Abdullah Al-Bader has said that the ministry is closely monitoring international developments concerning the vaccines, adding that the department would cooperate with various producing companies to get the jabs after ensuring their safety and efficacy.

Meanwhile, Khaled Al-Saeed, member of the vaccine technical committee at the MoH, said the Oxford vaccine is safe for the age categories between 18 and 65. The ministry will begin, as of this week, giving dates to get the jab for a large number of nationals and residents at the Kuwait Vaccination Center in Kuwait International Fairground, halls 5 and 6. The vaccine is effective against medium and severe infections, he said, adding that it also averts deaths. The duration between the first and second doses will be four weeks, he further noted.

Speed up vaccinations
This comes while a local report suggested that the ministry has prepared a plan to strengthen social immunity before Ramadan, with preparations nearly complete to speed up the pace of vaccinations, so that the largest number of citizens and expats can be inoculated before the holy month. “As Ramadan approaches, there are fears gatherings, contacts and social events will spread the coronavirus on a larger scale, and challenges will increase for the health ministry and other concerned parties to achieve herd immunity and limit cases,” Al-Qabas Arabic daily wrote yesterday.

“As efforts are being made to contain the pandemic, observers are warning of a rise in cases during the days that precede the month of fasting due to the crowding of citizens and expats in malls and markets, apart from social visits, which may spread infections, particularly among the elderly,” the report reads. Officials quoted in the report said the ministry aims at hastening the pace of vaccinations, especially after the arrival of 200,000 doses of the Oxford vaccine, which is enough for 100,000 persons.

Source: Kuwait Times

KUWAIT: Firemen rescued two workers who were stuck while working on a window cleaning scaffold at Shidadiya University yesterday. Jleeb and technical rescue men rushed to the scene in response to an emergency call. No injuries were reported, and a case was filed for investigations, Kuwait Fire Force said.

 Source: Kuwait Times

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: State Minister for Housing Affairs and State Minister for Services Affairs Abdullah Marafi issued a ministerial decision to charge an airport service fee of KD 3 on departure and KD 2 on arrival, which will be added to the airline ticket price of each passenger. The decision will be effective June 1, 2021.

According to Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) Spokesman Saad Al-Otaibi, the charges are based on an earlier decision. “These fees were approved a long time ago and are basically a reduction of the old KD 8 charges (KD 4 on departure and KD 4 on arrival). In fact, KD 5 is one of the lowest airport fees in the world. The decision will be effective from June 1 and applies on all passengers,” Otaibi told Kuwait Times yesterday.

Source: Kuwait Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kuwait on Thursday have expressed resolve to move forward for enhancing cooperation in economic, trade, oil and gas, energy, investment, agriculture, Information Technology and health sectors. The resolve is expressed during the visit of a high level Kuwaiti delegation led by Assistant Foreign Minister on Asian Affairs, Ali Suleiman Al-Saeed to Islamabad. According to the Pakistan Foreign Office, during the visit, the Kuwaiti delegate called on Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad.

Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to forge stronger bilateral relations with Kuwait. He stressed the importance of deepening and diversifying bilateral cooperation; in particular, in the areas of trade, investment, manpower export, and food security. He also underscored the importance of facilitating travel between the two countries, which could be instrumental in significantly enhancing bilateral interactions in myriad fields.

The Foreign Minister lauded the positive and constructive role played by the Kuwaiti leadership towards the resolution of differences among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The Assistant Foreign Minister reciprocated the Foreign Minister’s views on further fortifying the bilateral relationship. He said his visit reflected the keenness of the leadership of Kuwait to enhance cooperation and collaboration with Pakistan in diverse arenas.

During the meeting, the two sides expressed satisfaction at mutual collaboration in multilateral organizations, in particular the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).Views were also exchanged on regional developments, including stability in the Gulf, Middle East and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said Foreign Office. The Kuwaiti delegation also visited the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Interior Ministry and Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.

The Secretary of Economic Affairs during the meeting with the delegation emphasized upon enhancing bilateral economic relation for mutual benefit of both the countries. He appreciated the generous support of Kuwait in development projects in Pakistan and the debt suspension facility provided by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to overcome COVID-19 situation. Both sides took a review of bilateral economic relations and resolved to move forward for enhancing cooperation in economic, trade, oil and gas, energy, investment, agriculture, IT and health sector.

The secretary underscored the need to sign a Framework Agreement with Kuwait Fund for financing the various projects in infrastructure, energy and social sector. Both sides agreed to hold the next Session of Joint Ministerial Commission in near future. The Assistant Foreign Minister of Kuwait hoped that the forthcoming meeting of the Joint Commission will be instrumental in paving the way for future cooperation between the two countries. The Assistant Foreign Minister arrived in Pakistan to hold the Third Round of Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC). The last round was held in Kuwait in May 2016. – KUNA

This illustration photo shows COVID-19 vaccine vials and syringes with the logo of the University of Oxford and its partner, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. – AFP

KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti health ministry has authorized the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to protect people from the novel coronavirus. The authorization was issued after a detailed review of all relevant scientific data and reports and after conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the vaccine’s safety, efficacy and quality, assistant undersecretary for drug and food control Dr Abdullah Al-Bader said in a press statement on Friday.

He added that a ministry technical committee also reviewed the results of the vaccine’s clinical trials, particularly those related to the effectiveness and safety aspects of the vaccine. Bader emphasized that the ministry will closely monitor the vaccine’s safety after using it and will take all necessary measures to ensure safety of people. The official also revealed that Kuwait will receive the first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine within days to help accelerate its vaccination campaign.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under a license from AstraZeneca, was approved for emergency use by the European Medicines Agency and Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Bader noted. He added the Serum Institute of India is a vaccine manufacturer accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday that the AstraZeneca-Oxford University coronavirus vaccine has been authorized for the EU market, hours after the bloc’s drug regulator recommended its approval. It is the third vaccine approved for use in the 27-nation EU, after rival shots produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

“I expect the company to deliver the 400 million doses as agreed,” von der Leyen tweeted, as a row intensified between Brussels and AstraZeneca. “We will keep on doing all we can to secure vaccines for Europeans, our neighbors & partners worldwide.” The British-Swedish company has admitted it will only be able to deliver a fraction of the doses promised to the EU in the short-term due to production problems.

That has come as a huge blow to Europe’s already struggling rollout effort, while setting the EU on a collision course with former member Britain as they jostle for AstraZeneca’s limited supplies. The approval of AstraZeneca’s vaccine also comes in the middle of a controversy over the jab within the EU itself.

Germany’s vaccine commission said Thursday that the vaccine should not be used on over-65s due to insufficient evidence that it works. Even after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the AstraZeneca’s shot be approved for all ages on Friday, the German panel maintained its stance. – Agencies