RIYADH, 25 March – All workers in restaurants, barbershops, salons, and food outlets in Saudi Arabia will have to take COVID-19 vaccination starting mid-May, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing said.
Workers will be required to be vaccinated in order to protect public health and curb the spread of the virus. Those who are not vaccinated before the deadline must provide a negative PCR test result every seven days at the expense of the employer.
The Ministry of Sports and Transport General Authority issued similar directives on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Tourism also issued a statement saying that buffet services in restaurants, tents, and halls will be halted during the holy month of Ramadan.
The Ministry of Health has expanded the vaccination rollout and launched more than 500 COVID-19 vaccination centers across all regions of the Kingdom. To receive the free vaccine, the ministry is asking citizens to register on the Sehhaty application and then sign up for an appointment.
More than 3.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far, which is at a rate of 1 out of 10 people in the Kingdom.
On Wednesday, 466 new cases were reported, which means 386,300 people in Saudi Arabia have contracted the virus. There are 4,205 active cases as 627 of them are critical, which is an increase of 10 in the past 24 hours.
Riyadh reported the most cases at 193. The Eastern Province had 102 cases and Makkah followed with 71. Al-Bahah had the lowest number of cases with three.
Six people died from the coronavirus, raising the national death toll to 6,624. There were 306 patients who recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 375,471. The Kingdom’s recovery rate has decreased to 97.2 percent.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Public Transport Authority on Tuesday announced that the COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for all workers in public transport services as of May 13, local media reported.
The authority said that all workers and drivers in public transport services, including drivers of trains and buses, will be given the vaccine.
Those who do not comply with the new rule are required to submit a negative PCR test every seven days at the expense of the institution they are working for.
The authority instructed all operators of public transport to start vaccinating their employees before the date of mandatory enforcement of the new rule.
Source: Arab News/Gulf News/Agencies
