Ministry hopes to up number of vaccine beneficiaries

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 16: The Ministry of Health affirms that the procedures followed for carrying out the COVID-19 vaccination process in the country are “the most cautious and efficient”, reports Al-Qabas daily. In response to a front-page story titled “Kuwait’s vaccination … the slowest” published by the daily on Tuesday, the ministry expressed hope to increase the number of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine in the coming period. It affirmed its keen concern for the public health of citizens and residents, without forfeiting any measure that ensures the highest degrees of safety measures in regard to appropriate vaccination based on internationally approved medical principles and standards.

Approve
The ministry explained that one of the most important of these standards it set is not to approve any vaccination until after its use is officially approved by international medical bodies. Therefore, the comparison published by the daily missed this technical and professional standard, as it published proportions of countries that used vaccinations which were not approved by international medical bodies due to which they cannot be approved by the Kuwait’s Ministry of Health.

The statistics published by the daily relied on many vaccines used since six months and are not universally agreed upon. Therefore, it is not correct to compare them with what is provided by the government of the State of Kuwait represented by the Ministry of Health, and approved by international medical bodies, as other vaccines will not be approved for use until all the criteria are met. In this regard, it stressed that the Pfizer vaccine is distributed to the requesting countries in proportion to the population, due to which there will be fewer numbers of beneficiaries of the vaccine in the initial stages.

Efficient
The ministry concluded its statement by stating, “In the coming days, we hope that the numbers benefiting from the vaccine will increase, and new vaccinations will be supplied as soon as they meet the established conditions, which will definitely increase the number of beneficiaries.

The procedures of the ministry are the most cautious, and efficient, and not the slowest.” It stressed the need for the media to follow up the medical standards adopted when publishing anything related to the medical issue in order to reveal the truth to the readers without causing confusion. Last week, the Ministry of Health has asked those with chronic diseases and special needs of all ages who wish to take the vaccine to register their names, putting these people on the list of priority just like the medical personnel, the elderly and those working on the frontlines.

The Ministry of Health indicated the vaccination is given on the basis of priority for those who have registered with the ministry indicating the keenness of the government to protect groups most vulnerable to infection and complications. In the context, Consultant Internal Medicine and Clinical Immunology Dr. Mona Al-Ahmad revealed that the approved period of time between the two vaccine doses in Kuwait is about 21 days, and added, the person becomes immune to the virus after taking the two doses.