MOSCOW – Saudi Arabia has granted approval for individuals vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V jab to enter the country in a move that will enable Muslims to take part in religious pilgrimages, the vaccine’s developers today said.
“Saudi Arabia has granted approval for entry of individuals vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik vaccine starting from January 1 next year,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which financed the development of Sputnik, said in a statement.
It said the decision “will enable Muslims from all over the world vaccinated with Sputnik to participate in the haj and umrah pilgrimages to Islam’s holiest sites in the cities of Mecca and Medina”.
Foreign tourists vaccinated with Sputnik will still be required to quarantine for 48 hours, and take a polymerase chain reaction test.
Saudi Arabia has joined more than 100 countries accepting visitors vaccinated with Sputnik, RDIF said, adding that only 15 countries including the United States currently require travellers to be jabbed with vaccines other than Sputnik.
The haj – a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lives – typically packs millions of pilgrims into congested religious sites and could be a major source of contagion during the pandemic.
The coronavirus outbreak has for a second year forced Saudi authorities to dramatically downsize the haj, and just 60,000 fully vaccinated citizens and residents of the kingdom have taken part this year.
The coronavirus has killed more than five million individuals since emerging in China in December 2019.
Russia registered Sputnik in August last year ahead of large-scale clinical trials, prompting concern among experts over the fast-tracked process.
It was since declared safe, and more than 90% effective, in a report published by leading medical journal The Lancet.
But the Russian vaccine has so far not been approved by the World Health Organisation, or by the medical authorities of the European Union and the US. – AFP, December 5, 2021
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