Cairo: Saudi Arabia has said that a smart health passport, launched last week in the kingdom, is not at present mandatory for travel.

Saudi authorities on Thursday launched the health passport for recipients of the two doses of the vaccine against COVID-19.

The service is provided through “Tawakkalna”, a smart app accredited by the Saudi Health Ministry.

“At present, the health passport is not a condition for travel. Some countries may set conditions in the future for taking the vaccine,” the app administrator tweeted.

The passport is issued after receiving the second dose of the vaccine and introduced into the Health Ministry systems to appear via the “Tawakkalna” app

Batches received

Last month, Saudi Arabia launched its largest vaccinations against the highly contagious disease after receiving batches of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Registration for the vaccine against the COVID-19 is available for Saudis and expatriates in the kingdom through the smart app “Sehhaty”.

Saudi authorities have said the vaccine is offered for free to citizens and foreign residents.

Around 15,000 people have so far been inoculated against OVID-19 in the kingdom, according to local media.

Vaccination priority is given to those aged over 65, people at a high risk of infection due to their jobs, and those suffering from obesity, chronic diseases or immunity deficiency.

Source: gulfnews.com