Saudi Tawakkalna new update reduces first dose immune status period from 180 to 90 days

RIYADH — The period of immune health status by first dose of vaccine against coronavirus has been reduced from 180 days to 90 days on the Tawakkalna application, according to the new update of the app that would come into force after Oct. 10.

The Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that the immunity of the first dose would continue only for 90 days for those who received the first dose of the vaccine.

When this period expires the health status on the app will turn into “infection has not proven” unless the person takes the second dose of the vaccine within the period. After taking the second dose, the status would turn into immune.

The ministry reiterated that the status of immune against coronavirus would be given only for those who have completed vaccination effective after Oct. 10.

The health status will show immune on the Tawakkalna application only for those who have received two doses of any of the vaccines of Pfizer-BionTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Moderna, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The status of immune starts from the date of taking the second dose of the three approved vaccines while the status of immune in the case of those who have taken Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be considered 14 days after taking the first dose.

According to the ministry, the health status will be immune for those who received two doses of Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines that are approved by WHO and an additional booster dose of one of the approved vaccines in the Kingdom.

Before the new update, the health status of those who took first dose of the vaccine on the application was “immune by first dose,” and that status started appearing after completion of 14 days of taking the dose and this status continued for 180 days from the date of administering the dose.

Upon taking the second dose of vaccine, this status changed to “immune by completing doses of vaccine.” In the new update, this period of 180 days has been reduced to 80 days, the ministry said.

It is noteworthy that the new update of health status on the Tawakkalna application has canceled two categories of people who have immune status. They are those who are immune by first dose of vaccine and those who are immune by recovery from coronavirus infection.

In the new update, the health status of those who received first dose will be “received first dose,” while those who recovered from coronavirus will have neither any current status nor it is considered as a health status.

Meanwhile, Dr. Muhammad Abdel Ali, spokesman of the ministry, said in the daily press briefing on Sunday that the immunity acquired after infection of coronavirus is not at the level of immunity that is obtained as a result of taking and completing two doses of the vaccines.

“Therefore, it is necessary for those who were infected with the virus to take both doses, especially in light of the spread of mutated variants of coronavirus, specifically the Delta variant,” he said, adding, “Vaccination with two doses leads us to achieve herd immunity and reach the level of health safety.”