China Covid-19 vaccines not on the list for haj pilgrimage

 

Vaccination with Covid-19 vaccines developed by China-based entities is not among those recognised by Saudi Arabia as a pre-condition for the upcoming haj pilgrimage in July.

According to a statement by de facto Religious Affairs Minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, all haj pilgrims are required to take Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, or Moderna.

“Prospective haj pilgrims are also asked to prepare to take mandatory meningococcal vaccinations,” he said in a statement today.

He reiterated Tabung Haji’s call in March for prospective pilgrims to register for the government’s National Covid-19 Immunisation Program (NIP). Tabung Haji had made the call after the Saudi government made the Covid-19 vaccination a pre-condition for pilgrimage.

For the record, the Covid-19 vaccines currently used in NIP are developed by Pfizer-BioNTech (US, Germany), AstraZeneca-Oxford (Sweden, UK), and SinoVac (China).

Malaysia is also planning to procure vaccines from CanSino Biologics (China) and the Gamaleya Institute’s Sputnik V vaccine (Russia), but these have yet to receive regulatory approval.

Of the vaccines recognised by the Saudi government, the Malaysian government rejected the Johnson & Johnson (US) vaccine after deeming its delivery schedule to be too small and too slow.

It also rejected the Moderna (US) vaccine due to its high cost, but the private company Zuellig Pharma is reportedly applying for the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency’s approval to import the vaccine.

Early this month, Zulkifli had said that prospective hajj pilgrims would only receive Covid-19 vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford.

NIP Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had said on March 28 that prospective haj pilgrims would get priority for vaccination to enable them to perform the pilgrimage.

Meanwhile, Zulkifli said in his statement today that the Malaysian government and Tabung Haji are still waiting for a formal announcement from the Saudi government regarding Malaysia’s haj quota, selection criteria, and execution of this year’s haj season.

“I wish to advise prospective haj pilgrims to remain patient and make the best knowledge, physical, and spiritual preparations, and of course register for Covid-19 vaccination so that the pilgrimage to the Holy Land can proceed smoothly,” he said.

Yesterday, Saudi media reported that the upcoming pilgrimage season will be open to overseas pilgrims for the first time since the pandemic began, but with certain precautions in place. - Mkini