Vaccination centers to open soon in parts of Saudi Arabia

JEDDAH: Vaccine centers will soon open in Saudi Arabia’s western region and the Eastern Province, as part of the ongoing COVID-19 inoculation campaign from the Ministry of Health.

More than 440,000 people have signed up through the Sehaty app to receive the coronavirus vaccine, according to the ministry. Ninety percent of those registered through the app are between the ages of 20-60 years old.

The ministry has identified those who should not get the vaccine. They are women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, women who plan on getting pregnant in the next two months, people who suffer from severe allergic reactions that require epinephrine injections, and those who have been infected by the virus in the past 90 days.

It has identified those who would be the first to receive the vaccination. They are obese people with a BMI exceeding 40, those who suffer from immunodeficiencies and/or are taking immunosuppressive drugs and those who suffer from chronic diseases such as asthma, chronic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and those with a history of strokes.

“A quarter of those registered for the vaccine through the Sehaty app were women and we hope that more will register and trust the vaccine,” said Dr. Sami Almudarra, medical director for the ministry’s coronavirus vaccine program.

There were 168 new cases reported on Monday, raising the total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections to 361,178.   The number of active cases has dropped below 3,000 as there are currently 2,958 patients seeking care, 410 of which are in critical care units.

Makkah region reported 45 new cases, Riyadh had 31 and the Eastern Province had 25.

There were 211 recoveries reported on Monday, raising the total number to 352,089. Saudi Arabia’s recovery rate is 97.75 percent.
There were a further nine deaths due to complications from the virus, increasing the death toll to 6,131.

Saudi Arabia continues to monitor and report confirmed cases through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. More than 10.6 million tests have been conducted so far, with a further 36,373 carried out in the past 24 hours.