Manama: Saudi Arabia has announced that the coronavirus vaccine will be made available free of charge to all the people in the country, local media reported.
Saudi Arabia is obtaining vaccines for public health purposes and therefore it has not included them on the list of products that are chargeable, said it’s Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Preventive Affairs Dr. Abdullah Al-Asiri.
Children below16 years of age will be excluded from receiving the vaccine at this stage,” he said in an interview with Riyadh based Arabic satellite, Al-Ekhbariya television.
Those who have not tested positive for COVID-19 will be given priority in the vaccine campaign in the coming months,” he said.
He expected that the vaccines would be made available to 70 percent of the country’s population by the end of 2021. Most of the coronavirus vaccines are administered twice, except one, he added.
He said that the Kingdom planned to announce a clear schedule of vaccinations arrival to the country in the coming weeks.
Saudi Arabia will be one of the first countries in the G20 and in the world to receive safe, effective vaccines against the coronavirus. The country worked on two ways to obtain the vaccine, through the COVAX organization, which the G20 had a role in creating and financing, he added.
Assistant Minister of Health and the Ministry Spokesman Dr. Mohamed Al-Abdel Ali said that Saudi Arabia will receive the vaccines that must fulfill a number of specific conditions only. The vaccine should be effective, safe, and approved by the authorities concerned, he said.
Meanwhile, critical cases of coronavirus in the country have decreased by 6.3 percent during the last week.
