Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has announced that the booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine will become mandatory after eight months of getting the second dose to maintain ‘immune’ or ‘fully vaccinated’ status, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday.
An official source at the Ministry of Interior has confirmed that starting from February 1, 2022, all citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia must take the booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine to secure their ‘immune’ status on the Tawakkalna app
The ‘immune’ status is mandatory for adults aged 18 and above, wanting to attend any social, economic, commercial, cultural, scientific, entertainment or sporting event in the country.
Immune status on the app allows people to do the following:
- Take part in any economic, commercial, cultural, sports or tourist activity.
- Attend any cultural, scientific, social or recreational event.
- Enter any governmental or private establishment.
- Travel on planes and public transport.
Those exempt from taking the vaccine against COVID-19 as listed on the app do not need to take the booster dose.
The official stressed the need for everyone to adhere to the precautionary measures, preventive measures and approved health protocols.
The mandatory booster requirement comes days after the Kingdom confirmed a case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant coming from a north African country.
On November 26, countries around the world closed their borders with African countries after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Omicron a variant of concern.