Saudi Arabia extends travel ban until May 17
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Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that it will be extending the travel ban for its citizens till May 17, according to a statement in the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Earlier, the Kingdom's air, land, sea borders were scheduled to open on March 31.
The Ministry of Health, as quoted in the statement, said that the extension of the travel ban is due to the current global delays in the deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. The Kingdom had to reschedule inoculation appointments for the first-dose administration and also approved vaccines of AstraZeneca and Moderna following the delay.
Last December, a three-phase National Vaccination Campaign, which administered Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was launched in the Kingdom with more than 2 million people registering for the vaccine in the first month itself.
The Ministry of Interior said it is crucial for the Kingdom to reach 'high community immunity rates' before recommencing international travel services amidst the second wave of pandemic detected in many countries.