COVID-19: Saudi Arabia dismisses rumours of cancelling vaccine 2nd dose
Health ministry spokesman says aiming to accelerate access to first dose
Abu Dhabi: Saudi Arabia has dismissed rumours that it was cancelling the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to Dr. Mohammad Al Abd Al Aali, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health.
“There is no truth to what is circulated about cancelling the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine. But there is a delay, and the aim is to accelerate access of the largest number of community members to the first dose, to raise the level of immunity,” Al Aali said.
He explained the date of the second dose will come automatically for the beneficiaries, and the priority will be for those over the age of 60, and it will be of the same type of vaccine, as a priority service has been dedicated to vaccinate the elderly, through the Sehhaty (My Health) app.
More than 12.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, according to the Health Ministry.
Al Aali said that the pandemic is still ongoing, and called for commitment to reach the targeted immunity, stressing that 75 per cent of the recently recorded infections were caused by family events.
He also brushed off rumours about the containment of a magnetic mineral in the vaccine, or that there was any relationship between the black fungus infection and coronavirus.
Meanwhile, spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior, Lieutenant Colonel Talal Al Shahlob, stressed the need to fully adhere to the precautionary measures, after more than 25,000 violations were recorded in a week.
Some 1,067 new COVID-19 infections were recorded in Saudi Arabia in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 440,914, of which 8,975 are active and 1,344 are critical and still receiving intensive care.
Some 895 cases recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 424,690, while the deaths increased by 12 to reach 7,249.