- Saudi Arabia now accepts travelers who want to be vaccinated for Umrah.
- It is reported that the country will “gradually receive Umrah requests from various countries.”
- Saudi Arabia closed its borders 18 months ago to fight the coronavirus.
Saudi Arabian authorities said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia will begin accepting foreigners who wish to vaccinate for Umrah, a move that will boost the economy hit by the Covid pandemic.
According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), nearly 18 months after closing the border to fight the coronavirus, Saudi Arabia will “gradually receive pilgrimage requests from various countries” starting from Monday.
Hajj can be performed at any time and usually attracts millions of people from all over the world. This is different from the annual Hajj, where capable and capable Muslims must perform at least one hajj in their lifetime.
The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted the Muslim pilgrimage, which is usually the kingdom’s main source of income, with a total annual income of US$12 billion.
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Before the announcement on Sunday, only immunized pilgrims residing in Saudi Arabia were eligible for Umrah permits.
Last month, only about 60,000 vaccinated residents were allowed to participate in the reduced annual Hajj.
But the kingdom is slowly opening up, and from August 1st it welcomes foreign tourists who are vaccinated.
The SPA quoted Deputy Minister of Hajj Abdulfattah bin Sulaiman Mashat as saying that foreign pilgrims must be vaccinated with Saudi-approved vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — and agreed to be quarantined when necessary.
He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is working to determine the destinations from which pilgrims can come and the number of people in these countries “regularly classified according to preventive measures.”
The prohibition of overseas pilgrims has caused great disappointment among Muslims all over the world, who usually save years to participate.
Ahmed Hamadna, a 33-year-old Egyptian sales manager, told AFP: “I feel relieved to resume the pilgrimage.”
But he added that he was “concerned about the complicated procedures and measures during the pandemic”.
Australian resident engineer Mohamad Ragab (Mohamad Ragab) said he was still “hesitating” whether to make a pilgrimage.
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“There may be many people in Mecca, and the chance of infection is high,” he said.
According to the SPA report, Saudi Arabia will allow 60,000 pilgrims to conduct Umrah every month and gradually increase to 2 million worshippers per month.
The holding of pilgrimages is a matter of prestige for Saudi rulers. For them, the guardianship of the holiest place in Islam is the most powerful source of their political legitimacy.
Riyadh has spent billions of dollars trying to build a tourism industry from scratch as part of its efforts to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
This once-isolated kingdom first began issuing tourist visas in 2019 as part of an ambitious effort to reshape its global image and attract tourists.
Between September 2019 and March 2020, it issued 400,000 copies-only because the pandemic destroyed the momentum as the border closed.
As the government takes measures to revive tourism and other industries affected by the pandemic, such as sports competitions and entertainment events, the government has accelerated nationwide vaccination campaigns.
Anyone who wants to enter government and private institutions (including educational institutions and entertainment venues) and use public transportation must be vaccinated.
Saudi Arabia has registered nearly 532,000 coronavirus cases and more than 8,300 deaths.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is usually one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, with 2.5 million people participating in 2019
