Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia’s health minister receives COVID-19 vaccine

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq al-Rabiah, received the coronavirus vaccine on Thursday.

“Today is the beginning of the end of the [coronavirus] crisis,” al-Rabiah said, stressing that, under the directives of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the largest vaccination process in the Kingdom begins.

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Citizens and residents of the Kingdom will begin to receive the coronavirus vaccine free of charge in Saudi Arabia, while the health minister confirmed that “we will have vaccination centers in all regions of the Kingdom.”

The first Saudi citizens received the coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, the Ministry of Health announced on Twitter.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine, al-Rabiah announced.

“I am pleased to inform everyone, citizens and residents, of the arrival of the first batch of the coronavirus vaccine this morning, and I hope that it will be the beginning of the end of the crisis - God willing - and it will be provided to everyone at the earliest opportunity,” the minister said at the 2021 Saudi Budget Forum.

More than 150,000 people have signed up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia since the Ministry of Health opened registration on Tuesday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

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Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia receives first COVID-19 vaccine shipment

Coronavirus: More than 150,000 people in Saudi Arabia sign up for COVID-19 vaccine