Saudi Arabia: COVID-19 vaccination kicks off for kids above 5
Over 54m doses administered in the kingdom
Cairo: Saudi health authorities have said that vaccination against COVID-19 for children aged five and above is now available.
The Health Ministry said that registration for the first dose of children aged between five and eleven years can now be reserved via the apps “Tawakkalna” and “Sehaty”.
The ministry has already completed the first stage of administering the first dose of the inoculation for the high-risk category of this age group, according to Okaz newspaper. A second stage kicked off on January 23.
In mid-December 2020, Saudi Arabia initiated mass vaccinations against the new coronavirus. More than 54 million doses have since been administered across the country, according to the Health Ministry.
In recent weeks, the kingdom, the Gulf most populous country of around 34.8 million, has experienced a spike in infection rates, prompting authorities to reimpose several restrictions.
On Tuesday, the ministry reported 5,873 new cases and two related deaths. The latest figures raise the kingdom’s overall infections to 626,808 cases and related fatalities to 8,910.