Saudi Arabia drops COVID-19 measures including indoor masks, vaccine requirement

Saudi Arabia drops COVID-19 measures including indoor masks, vaccine requirement

Saudi Arabia has dropped more COVID-19 measures, including indoor mask and proof of vaccination requirements for most places, the Ministry of Interior announced on Monday.

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However, people will still be required to wear masks in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, places regulated by the Saudi Public Health Authority (Weqaya), and places and events that impose their own mask mandates.

Proof of vaccination in the Tawakkalna contact-tracing application is no longer needed to enter various facilities, participate in activities, attend events, or board planes or public transportation, with some exceptions, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. SPA did not elaborate on which categories were exempt.

Also, the vaccination timeframe for Saudi Arabian citizens who want to travel abroad has been extended.

Travelers previously had to have received their third COVID-19 booster shot within three months of the second, but that timeframe has now been extended to eight months.

COVID-19 restrictions in the Kingdom were loosened in March when outdoor mask mandates were dropped.

Social distancing measures, PCR tests for inbound travelers, and quarantine-on-arrival rules were also dropped in March.

The latest updates to COVID-19 measures come as the world