Kuwait City, 15th May 2021:
Kuwait’s HERD Immunity by September 2021, iiQ8, COVID Vaccine
Kuwait eyes herd immunity by September
Security checkpoints removed from streets as 66-day curfew ends
Kuwait is likely to achieve herd immunity against #COVID-19 by next September when the total number of those receiving the jabs will hit 3 million people, according to well-informed sources.
“Reaching this rate will put the country at the threshold of obtaining community immunity, thus paving the way for return to normal life with 65 to 70 per cent vaccinated before the new school year starts in September,” a source said, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai.
Kuwait expects the number of those vaccinated to reach 2 million in the next few weeks.
Over 60,000 workers at cooperatives, mosques, the banking sector, food factories and cinemas have already been inoculated against COVID-19, the sources said. The sources hoped that all workers at restaurants and catering companies, who have already registered for the vaccination, will get the shots during the Eid Al Fitr holiday to clear the way for the full resumption of those businesses after the Eid.
On Thursday, marking the first Eid day, Kuwait lifted partial health curfew that was imposed on March 7 amid a surge in coronavirus cases. Kuwaiti media said that checkpoints were removed early on Thursday from the country’s streets due to the end of curfew. During this week, the daily infection rate in Kuwait has dropped to below the 1,000 mark for the first time since February.
Kuwait, a Gulf country of 4.7 million population, kicked off mass vaccinations against COVID-19 in December.
In an attempt to accelerate inoculation, authorities last month launched mobile vaccination units targeting workers in mosques and in different commercial activities having direct contacts with the general public.