Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Haj and Umrah announced the start of issuing Haj permits to domestic pilgrims, starting today, Friday, 15th of Shawwal.
In a statement, the ministry confirmed that completing the necessary immunizations is a prerequisite for issuing permits.
It indicated that the immunizations required to be taken are: the COVID-19 vaccine, the meningitis vaccine, and the seasonal influenza vaccine.
The Ministry of Haj indicated that the last time to complete the immunizations is ten days before the start of the Haj season.
It is noteworthy that the Pilgrims Housing Committee had announced the start of receiving applications for permits for buildings designed to accommodate pilgrims since September 2022, and it is still continuing until now.
On January 5, Kingdom announced the start of the registration period for the Haj pilgrimage 2023 for citizens and residents in the Kingdom.
On January 10, Kingdom announced that it will no longer impose limits on the number of pilgrims for this year’s Haj after three years of restrictions to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kingdom expects to receive two million pilgrims during this season.
The number of pilgrims during the 2022 season reached 899,353, including 779,919 from outside the Kingdom, while the 2021 season was limited to 60,000, compared to only 10,000 in 2020.
Saudi Arabia had received 2.5 million pilgrims in 2019, in the last season before the pandemic.
