Page 7 - Al-Rashed Newsletter March 2021

KUWAIT & IRAQ
KUWAIT NEWS

Curfew may continue through Ramadan
Head of the Coronavirus Higher Advisory Committee Dr Khaled Al-Jarallah
said that COVID-19 transmission is still high in all governorates, while the
curfew and social distancing are allegedly “not being observed.” As a result,
it is possible that the curfew may continue during Ramadan. He added that
supplies of vaccines are being controlled by manufacturing companies
which is allegedly “slowing the vaccination process.” Half million
vaccinations have been completed out of the 1M registrations as of 24th
Mar 2021

Kuwait: 1 million doses of Moderna vaccine pending approval
In an effort to ramp up its vaccination campaign, Kuwait’s Central Agency
for Public tenders has approved the Ministry of Health’s request to purchase
one million doses of the Moderna vaccine, local media reported.
The agreement is not final as the Ministry of Health is still waiting for the
final approval from the state’s Audit Bureau. If approved, the value of the
contract will be worth 12 million Kuwaiti dinars. So far, only the US Pfizer-
BioNTech and the UK Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines have been approved
by Kuwait’s Ministry of Health.

COVID-19: Kuwait recorded 25,408 new cases in 20 days
In the past 20 days, Kuwait recorded 25,408 new COVID-19 cases causing
the Ministry of Health to sound the alarm, local media reported.
Health officials warned that the rise in cases is probably an indication that
the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is worse than the first in
Kuwait. For almost a month now, the Ministry of Health has been reporting
at least 1,000 new COVID-19 cases daily. Not only have the cases been
increasing but so has the number of deaths and Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
patients.

IRAQ NEWS

Iraq Discussing $7B Deal with Total
Iraq is discussing a “giant” agreement with French oil giant Total SE to build
large infrastructure installations, develop oil fields and produce gas, Oil
“WE HAVE TWO LIVES, Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar told Asharq News in an interview that aired on
AND THE SECOND 27th Mar 2021.
The minister said he expected the contract to be finalized before July. The
BEGINS WHEN WE
relationship with Total will be based on targeting low-carbon industry and
REALIZE WE ONLY capturing all flaring gas, and is set to produce 1GW of solar energy in the

HAVE ONE.”― first stage. A specialized team from the oil ministry is leading these
discussions with Total.
CONFUCIUS “The agreement is giant, and the volume of the investment exceeds $7

billion,” the minister said.

Source: KuwaitTImes.com, Arabtimes.com, Gulfnews.com. Bloomberg