Saudi Arabia says it will start receiving Umrah pilgrimage requests from vaccinated foreign worshipers from Aug. 9. After about a year and a half of not receiving worshipers abroad due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state news agency, SPA, reported early Sunday.
Saudi Arabia has decided to open the Umrah pilgrimage to vaccinated people from abroad starting Monday after more than a year passed since the kingdom refused to allow people from abroad to perform the pilgrimage due to the COVID-19 pandemic…
The kingdom’s state news agency SPA confirmed the development. With a capacity that would increase to 2 million pilgrims from 60,000 pilgrims per month, Mecca and Medina will begin receiving visitors from abroad in their mosques while maintaining the COVID-19 precautionary measures.
An official from the Hajj and Umrah Ministry said domestic and foreign pilgrims will need to include authorized COVID-19 vaccination certificates along with their Umrah application.
Vaccinated pilgrims from countries Saudi Arabia includes on its entry ban list will need to be institutionally quarantined upon arrival, the report added.
