Saudi to soon reveal registration process for Covid-19 vaccine in the kingdom

Saudi Arabia is set to soon reveal the registration mechanism for taking the Covid-19 vaccine, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing a senior official.

The kingdom has signed “important contracts with companies developing the coronavirus vaccine”, the assistant minister of Health and official spokesman of the Ministry of Health Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdulaali said.

The names of the companies were not disclosed.

Authorities will also ensure the safety, effectiveness and approval of the vaccine by expert competent committees, SPA quoted him as saying.

The first batch of the vaccine is expected to be available for distribution in the kingdom within weeks, local daily Arab News reported.

Saudi had said in November that it would be among the first countries in the world to receive the vaccines.

Officials also confirmed that they plan to offer Covid-19 vaccines for free to all the citizens and residents living in the country.

The health ministry is aiming to have enough vaccines to cover 70 per cent of the country’s population, who have not yet contracted Covid-19, by the end of 2021, officials told local media last month.

Read: Saudi to offer Covid-19 vaccine for free to citizens and residents

Meanwhile Al-Abdulaali also said that the country has witnessed a “dramatic decline” in the spread of the virus.

Saudi reported 187 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total number to 358,713 cases, including 3,869 active cases receiving necessary medical care.

Of these, there are 600 critical cases, while the rest of the patients are in a stable condition, he said.

The health ministry also announced that 317 cases had recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 348,879, while 11 new deaths were reported, bringing the death tally to 5,965.