Saudi Arabia closes hajj registration with 500,000 applicants

SAUDI Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on Thursday announced the end of the registration period via the online portal for this year’s hajj.

The ministry added that 558,270 people have applied to perform the pilgrimage.

It said the second phase of registration and selection of packages would start today (Friday).

Of the 558,270 that applied for this year’s hajj, 59 per cent were male applicants, while 41 per cent were female.

Three per cent of the applicants were under the age of 20, while 26 per cent were from the 21-30 age group and 38 per cent of all applicants were from the 31-40 age group, according to statistics released by the ministry.

The ministry added that 20 per cent of the applicants belonged to the 41-50 age group, and 11 per cent to the 51-60 age group while only two per cent of those who applied were over the age of 60.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia announced it would limit this year’s hajj pilgrimage to 60,000 residents and nationals living in the Kingdom due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Kingdom announced that it had inoculated at least 70 per cent of its adult population, with more than 16.8 million COVID-19 first doses administered, adding that it would launch the next campaign for second doses for those aged 50 and above.

“The next phase of the immunisation programme will focus on giving the second dose of vaccines to cover the age group of 50 years and above for those who took the first dose, starting on Thursday. We will also continue to provide the first dose to those who did not receive it in the previous period,” Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health announced.

Earlier in January, the Kingdom announced that it had rescheduled the dates for the administration of the second dose of the COVID19 vaccine at all the four vaccine centres in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Madinah. At the time, authorities said the delay was due to reasons beyond its control, mainly the continued delay in the supply of the vaccine to Saudi Arabia and other countries of the world by the manufacturer.

Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday that it had again rescheduled the dates for the administration of the second dose of the COVID19 vaccine at all the four vaccine centres in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Madinah, according to a statement from the ministry.

In the meantime, Saudi Arabia’s National Committee for Infectious Diseases has adopted the possibility of taking two different COVID-19 vaccines for the first and second dose, the Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday.

The country’s National Committee for Infectious Diseases’ decision was according to international scientific studies that showed the possibility of giving two doses of two different COVID-19 vaccines “safely and effectively in response to the virus, with the effectiveness of which the second dose aims to achieve,” the Ministry of Health said.

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