Saudi Arabia’s health minister has assured the safety of vaccines currently being distributed in the Kingdom, after recent reports raised concerns globally over the potential health risks and side-effects of certain vaccines.
“All vaccines used in the Kingdom showed high protection from infection, thank God, two weeks after taking the vaccine and with great safety. I advise everyone to hasten to take the vaccine to protect themselves from this dangerous virus,” Saudi Arabia’s Health Minister Dr. Tawfik al-Rabiah said in a tweet on Friday.
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Al-Rabiah last week urged the public to take the vaccine to protect themselves against the disease as Saudi Arabia began to lift most of its coronavirus restrictions.
The spokesman for the Saudi Ministry of Health, Dr. Muhammad Al-Abd Al-Aali, confirmed that the ministry is still monitoring fluctuations in the registration of confirmed and critical cases, indicating that adherence to the precautionary measures will contribute to stronger control to achieve positive trends.
Officials in several European countries pushed back on Friday against decisions by others to pause the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine following sporadic reports of blood clots, despite a lack of evidence the shot was responsible.
The World Health Organization squarely endorsed AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday, as Thailand joined a number of smaller European countries in suspending the use of the shot because of sporadic reports of blood clots among recipients.
(With inputs from The Associated Press and Reuters)
