Prospective Haj pilgrims asked to get COVID vaccines immediately

GUWAHATI: The Haj Committee of India has advised the provisionally selected Haj pilgrims of the Northeast to get the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine immediately so that the second dose could be administered before their departure for the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Arabian health ministry and the Indian consulate at Jeddah have informed that the Indian pilgrims visiting the Middle-East kingdom will have to get both doses of vaccines before their departure.

The Saudi Arabia government is yet to issue any official communication regarding Haj 2021 though.

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The advisory to the prospective pilgrims of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram has also stated that the Jeddah-bound flights from the region will start from mid-June and receiving the first dose of vaccine immediately would help them receive the second dose before departure.

The prospective pilgrims will have to get vaccinated of their own.

Indian visitors have been banned by several countries so far following the sharp rise in number of COVID-19 infection across the country.