Dubai: Saudi Arabia has announced children aged 5 to 11 will now be allowed to take the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, local media reported.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said the priority of receiving the shots will be for high-risk children who are more susceptible to the virus’ complications.
According to media reports, the Kingdom’s COVID-19 vaccine centres received today the first child who was given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
This comes as the new daily COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia increase, crossing the 100 mark for the first time in several weeks. Just yesterday, Saudi Arabia reported 146 new infections.
New cases in the Kingdom had been fluctuating around the 50 mark, with infections dipping below or rising slightly over the mark during the past weeks.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Health, two persons have died due to complications caused by the virus yesterday.
This brings the total number of confirmed infections in the Kingdom to 550,988 and the virus-related fatalities to 8,864.
