Cairo: Saudi authorities have urged overseas Muslims planning Umrah trips to the kingdom to register their full vaccination against COVID-19 online before arrival.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said on Twitter that inoculation registration via the Qodum platform is a must for overseas pilgrims 72 hours before arrival to check if it is compliant with the vaccines recognised in Saudi Arabia.
The vaccines approved in Saudi Arabia are Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sinopharm, and Sinovac. People vaccinated with the Chinese-made vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac have to spend three days in institutional quarantine and present a negative PCR certificate 48 hours after isolation.
The ministry also said that it is mandatory to reserve a permit via the app "Tawakkalna" before allowed to pray in Al Rawda Al Sharifa, which houses the tomb of the Prophet in his mosque in Medina. Stay in Al Rawda Al Sharifa is limited to 10 minutes, the ministry said.
In October 2020, Saudi Arabia resumed Umrah after about seven months of suspension due to the global pandemic.
Last month, Saudi Arabia reimposed wearing face masks and social distancing in outdoor and indoor places amid an increase in COVID-19 infections.
Authorities also reintroduced distancing in the two holy mosques after it was cancelled in October.
Earlier this week, Saudi authorities said that a recent decision restricting repetition of Umrah pilgrimage to a 10-day gap also applies to overseas Muslims as the kingdom is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 infections.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has said that pilgrims arriving from abroad are allowed to stay in the country for 30 days, have to be aged 12 and above, and show status of immunisation on the health app Tawakkalna.
Based on the 10-day interval for repeating Umrah, the overseas Muslims could undertake the rituals three times at most during their 30-day stay.
The decision to restrict Umrah repetition is attributed to recent precautions against COVID-19 reimposed in the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina.
