KUWAIT: People queue in their cars to receive a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-thru inoculation site at the Jaber Causeway on Monday. - Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Between 5,000 and 6,000 people are vaccinated daily at the Kuwait Vaccination Center on Jaber Causeway. Due to the weather conditions, the working hours are from 5:00 pm to 1:00 am. The staff at the center are doing hard work in the extremely hot weather. They aim to make the vaccination process easy for those who are coming to get vaccinated, and have some pieces of advice.

Administrative Supervisor Dalal Al-Ajmi advised those coming for vaccination to come on time or shortly before their appointment. "Some people arrive before 4:00 pm, while their appointment is at 6:00 pm. After waiting for over two hours in this heat, they reach the vaccination point upset and complaining," she told Kuwait Times.

According to Ajmi, there is no shortage of vaccines. "For those who registered months ago and didn't receive a message yet, it may be due to a mistake in their registration or they didn't see the SMS. I advise them to check their registration again and update their information. They can also check with the IT desk at the Kuwait International Fairground in Mishref to see what's wrong. Also, some of those who registered got infected with the coronavirus, so they won't receive a jab," Ajmi told Kuwait Times.

Those who missed the SMS with the vaccination appointment should register again. "If they miss the appointment, they won't receive a new appointment unless they register again. I expect that by September, we will finish with all registered people. Also, vaccinations of students will start in August before the school year," she explained.

"Last week we were vaccinating employees of various companies, with between 5,000 and 7,000 doses daily. This week we are inoculating individuals - between 2,000 and 2,500 daily doses. Currently we are administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine," Ajmi said.

There are around 70 administrative staff working at Jaber Causeway, not including the nurses and doctors. "The staff welcome those coming for vaccination at the gate. They check the information including the SMS from the ministry of health with the appointment time and location. The person is then directed to the vaccination point, where the information is checked again," she said.

Everyone coming to get vaccinated should have another person accompanying them. "We will not vaccinate the driver if they are alone. If they are driving, they should switch with the passenger and then only they can get vaccinated. Also, we don't accept anyone without an appointment. But if someone misses their second dose that was at this location, then we will accept them," concluded Ajmi.

Dr Talal Al-Fadhala, General Supervisor of the Center, said on average they vaccinate around 5,000 people daily. "We accept 80 vehicles at a time. The Jaber Causeway center started operating at the beginning of June, and different teams work here including technical and administrative teams, medical emergency, nursing, pharmacy, volunteers from the Civil Defense and the Red Crescent, and Fire Force and the Interior Ministry teams," he pointed out.