Saudi Arabia kicks off coronavirus vaccination campaign

Published
0

Saudi Arabia has kiicked off a three-phase Covid-19 vaccination programme, with the health minister among those inoculated after the first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in the kingdom.

Along with Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah, a woman in a wheelchair and another man were among the first to be administered the vaccine at a centre in Riyadh, AFP reported.

“This is the beginning of the end of the crisis,” Rabiah told reporters.

People aged over 65 as well as those with chronic ailments or at a high risk of infection will receive the vaccine in the first stage, and those aged over 50 in the second, the health ministry said this week. Everyone else will be vaccinated in the third stage, the ministry said.

Opinion

Editorial

Farming reform
Updated 06 Oct, 2026

Farming reform

Agriculture needs investment, but not another round of costly interventions.
Improved performance
06 Oct, 2026

Improved performance

THE recently concluded Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, were a revival of sorts for Pakistan, and a huge upgrade...
Mass surveillance
06 Oct, 2026

Mass surveillance

THE new National Cybercrime Investigation Agency chief, Ali Nasir Rizvi, has adopted a “zero-tolerance policy...
After the talks
Updated 05 Oct, 2026

After the talks

Considering how close they came to a solution, govt and opposition teams should reconvene to give the talks another chance.
Child safety online
Updated 05 Oct, 2026

Child safety online

Pakistani children are spending more of their lives online, but the safeguards around them are not keeping pace.
Rising public debt
05 Oct, 2026

Rising public debt

Pakistan’s public debt has surged by 76pc to Rs86.7tr in four years, according to a new government report.