Covid-19: Kuwait approves emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine

Kuwait - Authorisation was issued after conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the vaccine's safety, efficacy.

Kuwait has authorised the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to protect people from the novel coronavirus.

The authorisation was issued after conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the vaccine's safety, efficacy and quality, Assistant Undersecretary for drug and food control Dr. Abdullah Al-Bader was quoted by KUNA as saying in a press statement on Friday.

Also read: Kuwait authorised emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech vax in December

Kuwait will receive the first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses within days, he added.

Al Bader said the ministry had succeeded in obtaining an initial batch of the British-produced vaccine, due to its keenness not to delay the national vaccination program.

He added that the first batch is expected to arrive in days.

Al Bader also said that the vaccine had obtained approval from the Gulf Cooperation Council’s health council, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer approved by the World Health Organization.

Al Bader said that the decision came after an extensive review of all scientific data and reports by a technical committee, which “conducted a comprehensive assessment of the safety, efficacy and quality of the vaccine, as well as reviewing results of clinical studies on the vaccine’s effectiveness and safety.”

He added that the committee also ensured that principles of good manufacturing were applied in factories that are producing the vaccines, according to international standards, to ensure quality in all stages of manufacturing.