Saudi Arabia limits haj to vaccinated citizens, bars foreign travellers over Covid-19 fears

Muslims from other countries will be prevented from performing the haj pilgrimage for the second year in a row over Covid-19 concerns

Saudi Arabia plans to make vaccinations mandatory to enter government buildings and to use public transport

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Pilgrims walk around the Kabba at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in July 2020. This year’s pilgrimage will be limited to no more than 60,000 people, all of them from within the kingdom. Photo: AP

Published: 11:23pm, 12 Jun 2021Updated: 11:28pm, 12 Jun 2021

Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday it will allow 60,000 residents vaccinated against Covid-19 to perform this year’s haj, but Muslims from abroad will be barred for a second straight year.

The haj – a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lives – typically packs millions of pilgrims into congested religious sites and could be a major source of contagion amid the coronavirus pandemic.

This year it would be “open for nationals and residents of the kingdom, limited to 60,000 pilgrims”, the haj ministry said, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The pilgrimage, scheduled to be held in July, would be limited to those who have been vaccinated and are aged 18-65 with no chronic illnesses, it said.

Only up to 10,000 Muslims took part in the haj in July last year, a far cry from the 2.5 million who took part in the five-day annual pilgrimage in 2019 before the pandemic.

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