NAIROBI—Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on Monday, announced that COVID-19 Vaccination would be mandatory for the performance of Umrah, Prayers in Masjid Al Haram and for Prayers and Ziyarah in Mas- jid Al Nabawi, Madinah.
The Ministry said that Permits would be issued via the Umrah App “Eatmarna” to those people only whose status on the Health App shows “Immune.”
The Ministry and the Tawakalana authority said that ‘Immune’ status would be shown to people who have received at least one dose of vaccine in the last 14 days and for those who contracted and recovered from COVID-19 in the last 6 months.
The Ministry further said that these rules will apply from 1st Ramadan 1442.
At the same time Ministry of Health has decided to require all external pilgrims wishing to perform Hajj this year to obtain two doses of WHO-approved vaccine for COVID-19.
The pilgrims will be required to receive the second dose of the vaccine before arriving in the Kingdom at least one week before Hajj.
The Hujjaj will also need to obtain a certified and negative test of the COVID-19 PCR test, 72 hours before their arrival in the Kingdom.
The Ministry will also require all pilgrims to be subjected to a 72 hours of Mandatory Quarantine, which will only end after a negative PCR test.
In the Hajj 1442 Health Control Plan, the Ministry noted the need for all pilgrims and workers to wear tags and to ensure approved housing and mobility of at least one and a half meters between one and the other, as well as scheduling the flow of pilgrims into groups, so that only 100 pilgrims per group would be limited to the duration of the various rituals of Hajj
The Ministry has also directed to exclude the most vulnerable groups from pilgrimage and limiting age groups to only 18 to 60
