Pakistan requests Saudi Arabia to register Chinese vaccines for Hajj

China Economic Net

Islamabad: The Government of Pakistan has requested Saudi authorities to register the Chinese Covid-19 vaccines for Hajj pilgrimage 2021.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry made a contact with Saudi authorities requesting the Kingdom to include Chinese Covid-19 vaccines along with AstraZeneca and Pfizer for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that Pakistan had asked Saudi Arabia to add some Chinese vaccines to a list of recommended vaccines declared mandatory for Hajj and Umrah (mini-pilgrimage).

“Foreign Office is in touch with Saudi authorities on the vaccination matter,” Chaudhri said and expressed hope that the issue would be resolved soon.

Saudi Arabia earlier issued a list of recommended vaccines, which does not include vaccines manufactured in China.

Pfizer, Oxford, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson’s coronavirus vaccines have been recommended by the kingdom for use. Saudi Arabia is likely to announce the Hajj policy in the next few days.

Pakistan launched its Covid-19 vaccination drive in February and most people are being vaccinated with the coronavirus vaccines manufactured by China.

Pakistan recently received 1.2 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine delivered by COVAX to support the Government’s efforts to vaccinate high-risk people.

Pakistan will receive another batch of over 1.2 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine under COVAX next month.