Kuwaitis, expats flock to get second dose of Astra
‘Don’t come without appointment’
KUWAIT CITY, June 10: The high temperatures on Tuesday did not prevent thousands of citizens and expatriates, who received the first dose of the OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine since February 4, from flocking to the Kuwait Vaccination Center and other vaccination centers to receive the second dose of the vaccine, thereby marking the day as “the day of the second dose”, reports Al-Qabas daily.
Despite the high turnout, the medical and nursing crew were ready to accommodate the large numbers of those wishing to be vaccinated, and finish the procedures of giving them the vaccine quickly, easily and in record time, for which they deserve appreciation and gratitude.
In this regard, thousands of citizens and residents flocked to the Kuwait Vaccination Center in the fairgrounds, the Sheikh Jaber Bridge Center for Drive-in Vaccination, and the 30 designated primary care centers to receive the second dose of the Oxford vaccine.
The Ministry of Health aims to finish giving this dose to all its beneficiaries, which would be about 200,000 people within ten days.
Despite the extreme hot weather, the citizens and expatriates who received SMS with the appointment details for the second dose, adhered to the timing of the appointment and flocked to the vaccination centers in order to ensure that they did not miss the opportunity to obtain their doses. Failing this, they would have had to enter the cycle of registration via the electronic vaccination platform again.
The number of those who received the second Oxford dose as of 8:00 pm on Tuesday was about 25,000.
In this context, the Ministry of Health affirmed that the acquired immunity begins two weeks after the first dose of the Oxford vaccine, and then the effectiveness of the vaccine increases gradually.
It indicated that it has been proven that the effectiveness increases with the extension of the period between the two doses by more than 12 weeks, according to scientific studies and statistics, adding that the effectiveness of
the vaccine continues to increase after receiving the second dose.
Meanwhile, a health official stressed the need to adhere to the appointments fixed for people so that they do not have to search for new appointments, which could turn out to be long for some segments.
He explained that the 30 vaccination centers, in addition to the Kuwait Vaccination Center in Mishref and the Jaber Bridge Center, received large numbers of people who received the first dose of the Oxford vaccine since February.
The absorptive capacity of the health centers is about 18,000 doses per day. This is in contrast to the vaccinations at Jaber Bridge (the evening shift), which administers doses to about 3,000 to 5,000 people per day. The Kuwait Vaccination Center in Mishref receives about 15,000 to 20,000 people per day.
The appointments for those to receive the second dose of the Oxford vaccine are being scheduled for all included in the targeted segments, especially those who have not received any message so far.