Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Deputy Minister of Health for Public Health Dr. Hani Joukhadar expects Saudi Arabia would exceed the required percentage to achieve herd immunity against coronavirus by the end of the third quarter of this year, saying that the precautionary measures can be eased after this period.

Attending a program of MBC channel on Saturday, Dr. Joukhadar said that the Kingdom would have attained access to herd immunity through obtaining vaccination of the largest number of people against coronavirus.

A community reaches the herd immunity phase when a large part of its members are immune to a specific disease. If enough people are resistant to the cause of a disease, such as a virus has nowhere to go and while not every single individual may be immune, the group as a whole has protection.

Dr. Joukhadar also warned against the tendency on the part of some people who are reluctant to continue coronavirus precautionary measures and preventive protocols after the launch of the vaccination campaign. He emphasized the need to continue preventive protocols such as wearing masks and maintaining social distance.

The ministry official said that the existing quantity of coronavirus vaccine would be used to administer the second dose for a large number of people who have already received the first vaccine jab. Dr. Joukhadar said that more than half a million people are not in a position to receive vaccine jab in their scheduled time, while attributing this to the shortage in the supply of the vaccine by the manufacturer.

As per the contract with Pfizer company, 100,000 doses of vaccine would arrive every week, and this number would increase in a phased manner, he said while noting that the Saudi Food and Drug Authority is working to issue licenses for other vaccines.