PM: Kuwait has given $327m to COVID vaccine initiatives

PM: Kuwait has given $327m to COVID vaccine initiatives

NEW YORK: Kuwait has provided assistance worth $327.4 million to initiatives worldwide aiming to ensure an equal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to impoverished nations, HH the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s representative said on Friday. Speaking at a United Nations General Assembly session, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah called to ensure “a fair and safe global distribution of vaccines to all countries to reach a comprehensive immunization level”.

Recently, Kuwait contributed $40 million to Covax, a worldwide vaccine distribution initiative co-led by the World Health Organization, and the GAVI vaccine alliance, which aims to expand vaccine accessibility and improve governments’ health systems, administered by civil society and global organizations. Domestically, the country has also ensured a fair distribution of globally-approved vaccines amongst its communities of nationals and residents, with a high coverage rate of 72 percent of the population.

On the repercussions of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which has so far claimed the lives of over 4.7 million victims and caused widescale damage to economies and livelihoods and food scarcity, Sheikh Sabah said “the extent of the scars will remain present for a long time in the conscience of the world”.

The prime minister paid special homage