Kuwait has launched more than 30 centers to provide anti-coronavirus vaccines to people across the country, Undersecretary of Ministry of Health Dr. Mustafa Redha said on Tuesday.
The ministry has made many efforts that led to declining the death rates by one percent out of the total infected cases, Redha added in a news conference on the latest developments on health situation.
Since declaring the first infected case, the ministry has been ready to deal with the pandemic through increasing the number of beds, intensive care units, ambulances and field hospitals, and providing medications and accredited vaccines, he affirmed.
The ministry has been keen to declare transparently the number of infections, and patients at hospitals and ICUs, he said.
Up to 43,000 doses were given to people on Monday that reflects the rapid pace of the vaccination process, he revealed.
On vaccinating the pregnant and children aged 12-15, he said that a plan in this regard has been set in line with global recommendations and specialized bodies' guidelines.
He elaborated that global studies and recommendations showed the safety of vaccines for those children.
Redha pointed out that the registration for vaccinating this category will begin next July and the vaccination process will start next August.
During the next period, vaccines will be optionally given to the pregnant as studies proved the safety of vaccination to this category, he made clear.
Meanwhile, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Affairs Dr. Buthainah Al-Mudhaf said that the ministry is following up the epidemical situation in Kuwait and the world.
She noted that there was an increase in cases and patients at hospitals and ICUs over the past two weeks.
The stability of epidemical situation is related to abidance by health requirements so as to return to normal life, she emphasized.
Asked about worries over returning to the first phase of the coronavirus plan after detecting India Covid-19 variant, she pointed out that the public health sector assesses the epidemical situation based on some indicators like the average of the spread of the virus, and the number of patients at hospitals and ICUs.
Furthermore, the Ministry's spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad urged people to receive vaccination, wear facemasks, use hand sanitizer and avoid gatherings to control the virus.
Also, Khaled al-Said, Professor of Pediatrics, revealed that 90.5 percent of patients at hospitals, 89.4 percent at ICUs and 99.1 percent of deaths didn't receive vaccines.
A study issued on Monday showed that those who received two shots of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are protected from being hospitalized by 92 percent, and those who obtained two doses from Pfizer are immunized by 94 percent, in the presence of the mutated virus, he made clear.
On the effects of the genetic mutation of the virus, he stressed that the epidemical situation is permanently monitored, noting that there are reasons like gatherings, which help spread the virus wider.