Saudi Arabia intends to provide a booster shot to people aged 60 and above provided eight months have passed since they received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Health ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Abdelaly announced at a press briefing on the outbreak that older adults will be included in the booster dose plan.
The ministry previously said it had started giving booster shots to high-risk individuals, including those with chronic kidney failure and people with organ transplants.
The spokesman noted that indicators have proven that the Kingdom has been exemplary in handling the outbreak, asserting that the vaccines approved in Saudi Arabia are effective and safe.
“We urge everyone to complete both doses at the earliest,” he said.
“Vaccination is the most important factor that will help us through the coming phase in confronting the pandemic, which is, hopefully in its final stages.”
Meanwhile, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development spokesman Saad al-Hammad announced at a press conference that 88 percent of public sector and 85 percent of private-sector employees had received both vaccine doses.
Hammad indicated that the ministry carried out 87,500 monitoring tours in both sectors to follow up on the application of preventive and precautionary measures.
The Ministry of Interior recorded 19,870 violations of the regulations during the week.
The spokesman reiterated the need to receive the second dose of the vaccine to protect from the virus variants and their impact.
He called on the public to report any violations that are being committed and to continue to respect precautionary measures.
Over 41 million COVID-19 vaccine doses at 587 vaccination centers have been administered since the Kingdom kicked off its immunization campaign.
About 23 million people have received their first dose, or 65.80 percent of the population, while those who received two doses reached more than 18 million, or more than 51.82 percent.
The ministry of health confirmed 44 new infections and 58 new recoveries in the Kingdom.
In total, 546,926 people have now contracted the disease in Saudi Arabia, and the total number of recoveries has reached 535,950, with 8,699 fatalities.
