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RIYADH: In a significant development, Saudi Arabia has now made the COVID vaccine mandatory for the pilgrims around the world coming for Haj this year. According to reports, Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry has issued an order ruling that only those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 will be allowed to attend the Haj this year.
According to Saudi newspaper Okaz, the Health Ministry order said, “The Covid-19 vaccine is mandatory for those willing to come to the haj and will be one of the main conditions (for receiving a permit to come).”
A circular in this regard was signed by the country’s health minister. Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina and its peaceful organisation of the Haj, which has been marred in the past by deadly stampedes, fires and riots.
In 2020, the kingdom dramatically reduced the number of pilgrims to around 1,000 to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, after barring Muslims abroad from the rite for the first time in modern times.
Haj, a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, is a major source of income for the Saudi government.
Crowds of millions of pilgrims from around the world would likely be a hotbed for virus transmission. In the past, some worshippers have returned to their countries with respiratory and other diseases.
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