Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Deputy Minister of Health for Public Health Dr. Hani Joukhadar said that those who had received first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine would be rescheduled to obtain the second dose in the coming week.

Addressing a program of Al-Ekhbaria channel on Saturday, he said that the ministry aspires to cover a large proportion of the Kingdom’s population with administering the coronavirus vaccine within the next three months.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Health announced on Jan. 20 the rescheduling of coronavirus vaccine administration for those who have obtained the appointment for receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

After one week, the ministry announced that it has begun to reschedule the dates for administering the second dose of the vaccine at all the four vaccine centers of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Madinah.

The ministry attributed this to reasons beyond its control, due to the continued delay in the supply of the vaccine to the Kingdom and other countries of the world by the manufacturer.

The second dose can be had six weeks after the first dose, the ministry sources said while quoting the approved medical and scientific references. The ministry clarified that the Pfizer vaccine-manufacturing company has notified its commitment to resume the supply from the middle of February.

Attending the television program, Dr. Joukhadar underlined the need for everyone to be keen not to have a second wave of the pandemic as the past four weeks witnessed a steady increase in the daily cases of infections.

This led to the imposition of some strict measures to limit the spread of infection, expressing his optimism that it will bear fruit over the coming days and help stabilize the curve.

Dr. Joukhadar said that the increase in daily infections has not exceeded the figures that are a cause for concern, and the current situation does not warrant the imposition of further strict measures than that have already been taken.

He said this while replying to queries related to the increase in infections in most regions of the Kingdom with the Riyadh region tops in the cases of daily infections and the Eastern Province coming next.

“The fluctuations in the number of infections in terms of an increase or decrease of five percent, are comfortable in the long run. However, if the daily cases of infections are registering a steady increase of 5-10 percent without any fluctuation or decrease, this would be the worrying case, and this is what happened in the past period,” he said.

He noted that during the past six days many regions of the Kingdom have witnessed stability in the number of cases. “God willing, this stability would continue until the situation returns to the previous level,” he said.

He added that this necessitates more compliance to the preventive protocols by the members of the community.

Dr. Joukhadar called on all citizens and expatriates to take utmost care in applying precautionary measures to stem the spread of infection and transmission of the virus inside their homes.

“The largest numbers of daily infections at the present time locally and internationally are caused by home gatherings, and hence we must be very careful in our homes.

“Those who, spend long time outside their homes, should adhere to health precautions upon their return, especially if there are elderly people suffering from chronic diseases at home, so that their health is not negatively affected,” he added.