Manama : Saudi Arabia will ban unvaccinated people in many public places, including government buildings, educational institutions, malls and restaurants, and using public transports, from Aug. 1 in an effort to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ministry of interior said unvaccinated people will be kept out of any public or private facilities, whether they are employed there or visiting to finish a service. They will be banned from attending any economic, commercial and cultural, entertainment or sports events.
Those who have been vaccinated must present the Tawakkalna app to provide evidence they have received the full dose vaccine, whether citizens or residents.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said that starting from August 1, anyone who has not been vaccinated against the Covid will not be allowed to enter malls, shopping centers, retail stores, and markets.
People will also need to show proof of vaccination to be allowed entry into restaurants, cafes, barbershops, beauty salons, wedding and party halls, it said on its Twitter page.
All workers and visitors in a number of municipal establishments are required to be vaccinated, it said.
Last week, the interior ministry announced that starting from August 9, all Saudi Arabian citizens will be required to have taken two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine before traveling outside the Kingdom.
The announcement came in light of the spread of new variants of the virus, the low effectiveness of a single dose of the vaccine against those new variants, and based on studies and scientific research, which shows that receiving two doses will protect against complications of the virus variants, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted the Ministry of Health as saying.
Saudi Arabia has reported a total of 5,19,395 Covid cases, and 8,179 covid-related deaths so far.
The latest rules come as many Gulf States move towards more austere restrictions on those who have not been vaccinated. The UAE capital Abu Dhabi announced last June that starting from August 20, it would allow only vaccinated people in many public places, including schools, malls and restaurants.
Kuwait has stated that it would only allow completely vaccinated expats to enter the country and fully vaccinated citizens to travel abroad from August 1.
Currently, only inoculated people are permitted to enter shopping malls, gyms and restaurants in Kuwait.
