Saudi Arabia to open land, sea, air borders as of May 17: Interior ministry

Saudi Arabia will lift its suspension on citizens traveling abroad and open land, sea and air borders on Monday May 17, the interior ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Saudi citizens who have received two vaccination shots, or one shot at least two weeks prior to travel, those who have recovered from coronavirus within the last six months and those who are under 18 years old will be allowed to travel, the interior ministry said.

Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.

Saudi citizens have largely been barred from travel since March 2020, when the kingdom first banned all travel in and out of the country as COVID-19 began spreading worldwide.

Its borders reopened in July 2020 but citizens were still not allowed to travel. In January, authorities postponed the end of the travel ban for the public and the full reopening of entry points to May 17.

In February, it suspended entry for non-citizens from 20 states with the exception of diplomats and medical practitioners.

In a related development, Saudi Arabia’s health minister, Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, said during his speech in a Vision 2030 dialog session that the Kingdom has provided close to 9.5 million vaccines, stressing on the importance of the quality of vaccines, not the quantity.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s “Tawakkalna” application, the official application approved by the Ministry of Health to limit the spread of the coronavirus, has exceeded 20 million users, with three million users having joined in the past two months, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Saturday.

Read more:

Saudi Arabia has provided 9.5 mln COVID-19 vaccines: Health minister

Coronavirus: All you wanted to know about the Saudi tracking app Tawakkalna

with Reuters