RIYADH — The Ministry of Health official spokesman Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali stated that the pandemic is still persistent at the global level, citing that various regions around the world are witnessing a rise in the number of infected cases.

During the press conference held Sunday, Dr. Al-Abdel Ali stressed that the reason for the surge is attributed either due to the society’s failure to reach the objective of high vaccination rates or exceeding six months without providing boosters to their nationals, especially the elderly, and slackening in implementing preventive precautions.

He added that the booster dose does not have any symptoms different from the two previous ones, but rather displays the same symptoms, and taking it is necessary not only for stemming the emergence of mutants.

The ministry official added that a total of 47 million doses of vaccination have been given to the public in Saudi Arabia, with 22.3 million people fully immunized.

In his daily briefing, he reported 24 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Saudi Arabia Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 549,695, including 2,006 active cases. Of these, there are 48 critical cases, while the health condition of the rest is stable, he added.

Dr. Al-Abdel Ali said that 32 new recoveries have been recorded, bringing the total recoveries to 538,856 cases. Also, one new death has been reported, bringing the total deaths to 8,833, said the Health Ministry spokesman. — SPA