No Covid vaccination needed for Umrah pilgrims this year

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry for Hajj and Umrah has announced that Umrah pilgrims traveling to Kingdom this year will not require mandatory COVID vaccination, ARY NEWS reported.

According to the Saudi authorities, even unvaccinated people will be allowed to offer prayers at Khana-e-Kaaba and Masjid-e-Nabvi (SAW).

The only condition to attend the prayers at the holy mosques according to the ministry of Hajj and Umrah is that the unvaccinated person should not be suffering from COVID nor should have come in contact with a person suffering from the infection.

The Umrah season for the year 1444H has started.#Makkah_and_Madinah_Eagerly_Await_You pic.twitter.com/BERe3OB1Ol

— Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (@MoHU_En) July 30, 2022

According to a previous travel advisory for Umrah pilgrims, the Saudi authorities lifted the restriction of a PCR test and approved a list of eight vaccines for those travelling for Umrah.

The vaccines approved by the Kingdom included Pfizer, Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, Cansino and Sputnik.

The travellers were needed to get one dose of Johnson and Johnson, two doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna and two doses and a booster shot of Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Sputnik to travel to the Kingdom.

However, those who received a single dose of Cansino were required to receive two booster shots of it before being allowed to travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

The travel advisory said that the Umrah pilgrims needed to acquire the vaccination certificate before their travel.