Kuwait Approves Johnson & Johnson Vaccine for Use In An Emergency
Kuwait‌ ‌is buying vaccines from a US pharmaceutical company. Kuwait signed contracts with Johnson & Johnson and Moderna to supply vaccines after the Minister of Health, Dr. Basel Al Sabah, announced earlier this week that Kuwait had contracted with US pharmaceutical companies. According to Kuwait News Agency, Kuwait’s Ministry of Health approved the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergencies on Tuesday.
Approval of Johnson & Johnson’s
During the vaccine’s safety and efficacy review, Dr. Abdullah Al Bader, the Assistant Undersecretary for Drugs and Food Control, said the approval came after a thorough investigation.
Also, after having completed a comprehensive evaluation of the vaccine’s safety, efficacy, and quality, the vaccine was authorized after studying relevant scientific studies and reports. In addition, he told KUNA that the committee also reviewed responses to vaccine clinical trials. Responses including particularly those related to vaccine safety and effectiveness.
The minister explained that the ministry would carefully monitor the safety of the vaccine after it was administered. The ministry would take all measures necessary ‌to guarantee ‌the ‌security ‌of the public.
Total number of Vaccines in Kuwait
So far, Kuwait has given emergency authorization for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. However, After those of Pfizer BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Moderna, this is Kuwait’s fourth vaccine to be approved.
Effectiveness of Johnson & Johnson Vaccine
According to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company, their single-dose COVID-19 vaccine candidate is 66 percent effective after 28 days as a preventative.
According to a press release announcing Phase Three results of the vaccine’s trials, the vaccine is ‌72‌ ‌percent‌ ‌effective‌ ‌against‌ ‌mild ‌to‌ ‌severe‌ ‌outbreaks ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌United‌ ‌States. In Latin America, the effectiveness is only 66 percent. In contrast, in Africa, it is 57 percent where there is concern about variants.
At 28 days following vaccination, the vaccine candidate prevented severe disease in 85 percent of all regions studied. A study revealed no cases of severe disease in vaccinated participants after day 49, indicating an increased efficacy against severe illness over time. A 28-day study showed that the COVID-19 vaccine candidate completely protected against hospitalization and death due to COVID.
According to this study, the United States can benefit from the third vaccine with logistical benefits. This could simplify distribution and make vaccination more accessible around the world.
Taking 2nd dose of different Vaccine is a possibility
As Dr. Basel indicated in an interview broadcast Sunday evening on Kuwait TV, Kuwait is willing to allow residents to opt for the Pfizer-BionTech vaccine even if they took the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as their first shot if the third shipment of Oxford doses arrives in the country later than expected.
On May 10, a shipment from Russia arrived in Kuwait, but the Ministry of Health has not yet received it because it has not yet received the documents to authenticate the merchandise.
According to the Ministry of Health, documents are going to be available on June 8.
Dr.Basel plans to provide vaccines to 200,000 people in 30 vaccination centers in 10 days.
