Two Chinese vaccines get Saudi approval

Saudi Arabia has included the Sinopharm and Sinovac Covid-19 jabs to its list of approved vaccines, taking the total number to six, a media report said.

According to the Saudi Gazette, the Ministry of Health announced that there are a total of six approved vaccines in the Kingdom; Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BionTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sinopharm, and Sinovac.

“In the event of giving approval to any other vaccines, it will be announced at the time through the official channels approved by the Ministry of Health and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority,” the report quoted the ministry as saying.

It added that according to the ministry, there was a possibility regarding accepting the vaccination of those who had received two doses of the said Chinese vaccines, provided that they had received a booster dose of one of the other approved vaccines.

The development could be a sigh of relief for thousands of Pakistani workers who were unable to return to the Kingdom due to travel restrictions.