AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine to arrive in Kuwait soon

A local daily reported yesterday that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine will soon be approved and first shipments may arrive in Kuwait next week with 200,000 doses initially.

200,000 doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine will arrive in Kuwait next week, Al Qabas reported. A source revealed to Al Qabas that an additional 800,000 doses will arrive by February or March at the latest.

Al-Qabas newspaper quoted sources who said that the import is linked to approval time as the vaccine must be registered first before preparing to receive it.

The Oxford vaccine will be easier to store compared to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which is required to be stored in less than 70 degrees’ Celsius temperature.

This will enable the vaccination of most members of the society, while the vaccine fights new COVID-19 variants too.

Currently, Kuwait is only administrating the Pfizer vaccine as it has received approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Kuwait received three shipments of the Pfizer vaccine. The first one, which arrived on December 23, contained 150,000 doses. The second and third doses arrived earlier this month, but the quantity of the shipment has not been disclosed.