KUWAIT: Until now, it is unclear from the government's side if unvaccinated children between the ages of 12-17 will be allowed to enter Kuwait. Some residents stranded abroad with their families are working to try and return, including bringing their under age children with them back to Kuwait. In India, Egypt and other nations, however, vaccinations for those under 18 years of age may not yet be available. This creates a problem for residents who want to return. Kuwait began vaccinating 12-15 year olds midsummer.

There are unconfirmed reports that Kuwait will allow under 18s who are not vaccinated with a negative PCR test to come but they will be required to quarantine at home until they complete the quarantine period or meet the negative PCR requirements. Parents can register their unvaccinated children under the 'exemption - ministers below 18 unaccompanied passenger' space in the Mosafer app. But this is unconfirmed information and there has been no official government statement in this regards.

A local report yesterday had hinted at concerns that some Kuwait-based Egyptian families are having while they are currently spending their summer break in Egypt. The report published by Al-Qabas Arabic daily yesterday indicates that those families are highly worried over the fate of their children, particularly those between the ages of 16 and 18.

For now, Egypt is still studying whether to vaccinate children under 18 against COVID-19. Amal Arafah, a teacher at Kuwait's Ministry of Education who is spending her holiday in Egypt, said there are more than 100 families suffering because they have children aged between 16 and 18, noting that they cannot register their children to take vaccines in Egypt, and at the same time do not want to travel back to Kuwait without them.

Nearly a month and a half before the start of the in-campus school year on October 3rd, Kuwait had re-allowed commercial flights with Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Wednesday after the six countries were restricted in light of COVID-19 restrictions. The decision was made in a Cabinet meeting which underlined that flights with these countries would be subject to measures identified by Kuwait's ministerial coronavirus emergency committee. Meanwhile, Kuwait also announced that incoming travelers who were administered unapproved COVID-19 vaccines were required to take one more shot of one of four government-approved vaccines to enter the country.

The decision comes as the Kuwaiti government announced new conditions and regulations that will allow passengers who have obtained unapproved vaccines, including Sinopharm, Sinovac and Sputnik V, to enter the country, the Government Communication Center said in a statement via its Twitter account. The Kuwaiti government only recognizes Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna, and the single-shot Johnson & Johnson as approved vaccines against the virus. Earlier regulations, namely for arriving passengers to obtain two shots of the approved vaccines or one shot of Johnson & Johnson, still stand, according to the decision.

People vaccinated inside Kuwait are asked to show their vaccination certificates as soon as they arrive in Kuwait via the "Immune" and "Kuwait Mobile ID" apps, it added. However, passengers vaccinated out of the country should submit their documents, containing their names as written in their passports, the vaccine make, the date of immunization, the administering body and the QR code for these documents to be verified electronically, it explained. In case of the absence of the QR code, the documents can be uploaded via the Ministry of Health's link, it made clear. - KUNA