Saudi Arabia kicks off three-phase vaccination programme

Saudi Arabia kicked off a three-phase COVID-19 vaccination programme on Thursday, with the health minister among those inoculated after the first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived, AFP reported.

Along with Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah, a woman in a wheelchair and another man were among the first to be administered the vaccine at a centre in Riyadh, an AFP photographer reported.

People aged over 65 as well as those with chronic ailments will receive the vaccine in the first stage, and those aged over 50 in the second, the health ministry said this week, adding that those remaining would be inoculated in the third and final stage. 

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More than 100,000 people have registered so far through an online application called ‘Sehaty’, the ministry said, adding that the vaccine would be “free for all citizens and residents”, as per AFP reports.

According to official figures, the Gulf kingdom has a population of more than 34 million.

Last week, the kingdom became the second country in the Gulf to grant emergency approval to the vaccine developed by US pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. 

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Saudi Arabia has recorded over 350,000 coronavirus cases so far. With more than 6,000 deaths, the country has the highest COVID-19 mortality rate among the Gulf Arab states.