Saudi Arabia to consider only double jabbed as immunised against Covid-19

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health has informed that only those who have taken both doses of Covid-19 would be considered immunised in the country. The update will be implemented from October 10 onwards.

Double vaccination is required to attend any economic, commercial, cultural, entertainment, sport, or tourism activity in Saudi Arabia starting from 6 a.m. on October 10, said the update on Saudi Arabia's government-approved Tawakkalna app.

Health Ministry spokesman Dr Mohammed Al-Abd Al-Aly said that taking both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine is hugely important because it is the only way to protect society. Saudi Arabia has so far administered over 42.3 million vaccines. Half of the Kingdom's population is fully vaccinated.

He added that recovering from Covid-19 is not enough by itself. And a single dose after recovering from the disease is also not enough to confront mutants of the virus around the world, reported Arab News.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had launched procedures to enable the gradual return of pilgrims to the two holy mosques. Authorities have now developed four main service centres to receive, gather and transport pilgrims safely. Over 21,000 Umrah visas were issued for foreigners as of September 2021. The first group of foreign Umrah pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier in August.