Saudi Arabia administered over 13.9 mln COVID-19 vaccine doses so far: Official

More than 13.9 million coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in 587 inoculation centers across Saudi Arabia, an official said on Sunday.

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At least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was given to 40 percent of the Kingdom’s population since the start of the vaccination campaign, the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Preventive Health and Consultant in Contagious Diseases, Dr. Abdullah Asiri, said on his Twitter account.

“Forty out of every 100 people in the Kingdom have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to date,” he said.

Saudi Arabia launched its national coronavirus vaccination drive on Dec. 17 after the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

People take advantage of a new coronavirus vaccination center at the old Jeddah airport, Saudi Arabia. (AP)

Since then, the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine has also been approved.

The first phase of the campaign was only open to people over the age of 65, those who suffer from chronic disease, and those who work on the frontlines of the pandemic.
However, when the second phase of the drive began on Feb. 18, all citizens and expatriates became eligible to receive vaccine shots for free.

Health officials hope to successfully complete the vaccination campaign by the end of 2021.

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