The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has permitted Pakistanis inoculated with the Chinese Covid-19 vaccine to enter into the kingdom.
Accepting Pakistan’s request to include China-made vaccines to its list of approved Covid-19 shots for visitors, Saudi Arabia has permitted Pakistan nationals inoculated with Chinese jabs to enter the Kingdom.
Although the Chinese vaccines are less effective against coronavirus delta variant relatively to Pfizer and Moderna, still it shows some resistance.
Meanwhile, authorities have stated that upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, they will be required to get a booster dosage of the COVID-19 vaccine, as recommended by the Saudi government.
Pakistani nationals will be needed to have a booster shot in addition to two doses of Chinese vaccine, the officials stated, adding that the condition of a negative PCR test for all such tourists will remain in effect.
Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson are among the four COVID vaccines that the Kingdom has approved for emergency usage.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had previously issued a list of recommended immunizations that did not include Chinese vaccine. The majority of Pakistanis get vaccinated using Chinese vaccines such as Sinopharm, SinoVac, and CanSino single dosage.
Last month, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed announced that Prime Minister Imran Khan himself was handling the matter of Saudi and some other countries in the Middle East not accepting the vaccination certificate of the Sinopharm vaccine.
World Health Organization (WHO) has also reiterated that any Covid-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use should be recognized by countries as they open up their borders to inoculated travelers.
