In a new development, Saudi Arabia has conditioned the travel permissionfor foreign passengers with COVID-19 vaccination. However, the newcondition has made life difficult for Pakistanis intending to travel to thekingdom.
This is because the Gulf country’s list of recommended vaccines does notinclude any of the ones that have been manufactured in China.
According to media reports, the kingdom has recommended Pfizer, Oxford,Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson’s coronavirus vaccines for use. Whereas,most people in Pakistan are being vaccinated with Chinese vaccines, i.e,Sinopharm, CanSino, and SinoVac.
Media reports suggest that those who do not receive the shots from therecommended vaccines will have to undergo a mandatory quarantine period inSaudi Arabia. The cost of the quarantine will be paid by the passengers aswell.
Reportedly, the new condition will take effect from May 20.
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Pakistan started its coronavirus vaccination drive on February 2, afterreceiving the first batch of the SinoPharm vaccine. Since then, the countryof over 220 million has administered first doses to over 2.8 million peopleand has fully vaccinated to nearly 293,000 people, or 0.4 % of itspopulation.
The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) plans to vaccinate 70million people by the end of this year.
