Saudi Arabia urges vulnerable categories to take COVID-19 vaccine

Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ministry of health (MoH) has recommended certain vulnerable categories of people to take an updated vaccine against COVID-19 after detecting a new variant JN.1.

In a statement, on Tuesday, January 2, the ministry advised these categories to book an appointment for vaccination via its Sehaty app.

Vulnerable categories

• Everyone aged 50 years and over

• Pregnant women

• Health practitioners who deal directly with patients

• People with chronic immunosuppressive diseases, including active cancer, between 17 and 50 years of age

The Saudi Public Health Authority permits the use of the updated COVID-19 vaccine for individuals over 18 to prevent complications and effectively combat prevalent variants.

The advisory comes after the Saudi Arabia Public Authority recently reported the detection of JN.1, a sub-variant of COVID-19 in the Kingdom.

However, it said there was no cause for concern, as the variant had not led to any increase in admissions to intensive care units.