KUWAIT: Employees of a shopping mall in Kuwait sit in distance while waiting to receive COVID-19 vaccine on May 9, 2021. — Xinhua

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: After the Cabinet decided on Thursday that unvaccinated people cannot enter large malls from June 27, many of the staff working in these malls are anxious about their jobs. Saleswomen at five different stores at The Avenues mall told Kuwait Times they haven’t been vaccinated.

“Unfortunately I didn’t receive the vaccine although I registered more than five months ago. Even during the vaccination campaign at the mall, me and my colleague didn’t get vaccinated although we waited for over three hours in the queue. They told us the vaccines had run out,” said a saleslady named Merisel, who works at a clothing store.

Sara, a saleswoman at a grocery store at The Avenues, also said she couldn’t get vaccinated during the campaign due to the huge number of people waiting in the queue. “Unfortunately, the medical team was vaccinating all those waiting in the queue, which included a large number of visitors, so the number of vaccines was not enough for all the staff,” she pointed out.

Other sales staff from various smaller stores who didn’t get the vaccine wondered if their stores will be closed after the decision goes into effect on June 27. “There are only two salesmen in our store, and we both are not vaccinated. So I think the store will close until we get vaccinated,” said Anas, a salesman at a shoe store.

Thursday’s decision by the Cabinet only mentioned shopping malls of an area of over 6,000 square meters, without mentioning specific malls. This led to speculations, as most people are not sure which malls are included.

A security guard at Souq Sharq said he is not sure if this decision will be applied to this mall, as he assumes it is smaller than 6,000 sq m. “The mall’s administration will definitely inform us next week. But I don’t believe this decision can be applied. It will be very difficult to check every visitor at all entrances. Also, we have a supermarket in the mall, which is open to those who are not vaccinated. Maybe they can enter the mall from there,” he told Kuwait Times.

“A team from the ministry of health vaccinated staff working at the mall, but I guess not all employees received the vaccine. The team was planning to hold the campaign for two days, but they only came once, and it got very crowded as many visitors also stood in the queue to get the vaccine, which were not enough for all of them,” added the guard. In addition to large malls, the decision also applies to restaurants, salons, health clubs and cinemas.