Five categories have priority to receive second dose COVID-19 jab in Saudi Arabia, without delay

RIYADH — Five categories have a priority to receive the second dose anti-coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, without delay. These include renal dialysis, active cancer, and organ transplant patients, obese persons, and those over 60 years of age, the Ministry of Health announced Friday.

Delaying the second dose anti-COVID-19 jab stimulates immunity better in some vaccines, calling on all not to worry about the delay in giving the second dose for some categories of the society, as this is for the public interest, the Assistant Undersecretary for Preventive Health at the Ministry of Health Dr. Abdullah Asiri disclosed on Friday.

In a series of tweets on Twitter, Dr. Asiri said: “Monitoring and following up of the post-first-dose immunity level for the anti-COVID jab, shows that there is no ideal period between the two doses.”

He added: “There are countries that have approved a three-month interval between the two doses. Meanwhile, other countries started scheduling for giving the second jab four months after the first dose. Therefore, it is the epidemic status and the demographic structure that are the decisive factors.”

Generally, taking the second dose is not a condition for international travel. The countries impose institutional quarantine measures on arriving passengers.

They see the rate of spread of the disease and the mutations in the countries from which these passengers have arrived, irrespective of the immunization status of the passenger.