Tawfiq al-Rabiah receives the coronavirus vaccine in Riyadh.
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Fayez Nureldine / AFP / Getty Images
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Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, received an injection of the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, a day after the kingdom got its first batch of the vaccine.
“Today marks the beginning of a relief from this crisis,” he told Ekhbariya State TV. “Over the past nine months, I have been looking anxiously at the number of registered cases. But today I will happily look at the number of vaccinated. “
Saudi Arabia plans to offer the vaccine for free to all residents of the kingdom. The country, which has reported approximately 360,000 cases and 6,080 deaths, has started to lift the coronavirus blockades as of May. Officials have not imposed any new restrictions since then, and the country has so far prevented another wave of infections.
Saudi Arabia earlier this week asked citizens and residents to sign up for its vaccination program. The first phase involves people most exposed to the disease, while the second and third stages target people over 50 before the vaccine is made available to the general public.
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– With the help of Farah Elbahrawy