MOH spokesman, Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdulaali, said that the curve of confirmed cases in the Kingdom is seeing a positive trend, and that the drop to 85% is a promising sign. Moreover, switching between vaccines is safe and effective, as some studies show that they give the body enhanced immune activation.
Dr. Al-Abdulaali stressed the importance of taking the second dose of the vaccine as the only way to protect the body against variants of the virus and increase immunity. Immunity gets activated after the first dose of the vaccine. Taking the vaccine is also essential for community immunity. Moreover, students must take the two doses of the vaccine whether or not they have already had COVID-19 at some point.
The total number of doses given at various vaccine centers in the Kingdom is estimated to be 36,016,783. More than 587 centers have provided the vaccine.
Al-Abdulaali revealed that 208 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Kingdom, bringing the total cases to 54,4004. These include 3,346 active cases, still receiving medical care. Their health status is mostly stable, with the exception of 952 critical cases.
The MOH spokesman made this statement in the COVID-19 briefing held on Sunday, with the participation of the spokesman of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, Mr. Saad Al Hammad. Al-Abdulaali mentioned that 393 COVID-19 recoveries were reported, bringing the total number of recoveries 532,126 to date. And 6 new mortalities were reported, bringing the total number of mortalities to 8,532.
For his part, Mr. Al Hammad said that the Ministry is monitoring the application of the precautionary and preventive measures in all workplaces of the private sector.
Moreover, a large number of people in both the private and public sector have taken the vaccine.
Furthermore, the efforts of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in terms of following up the application of the precautionary and preventive measures are ongoing, in order to limit the spread of the virus while creating a safe and healthy work environment. Since early 2021 until August 22nd, these inspection tours have monitored more than 735,000 establishments to ensure they adhere to the precautionary measures to limit the spread of the novel Coronavirus, and create a safe, healthy work environment.
The Ministry has recorded 8,945 violations of the precautionary measures in private sector establishments. Moreover, 10,465 violations were recorded against individuals who breached the precautionary and preventive measures inside workplaces of the private sector. Furthermore, 57,864 warnings were issued by the Ministry against private sector establishments regarding the application of these measures. In addition, the Ministry received 22,223 reports regarding the violation of the precautionary measures.
The total number of violations recorded, whether by establishments or individuals, was estimated to be 19,410.
Commenting on individuals who have sought to get vaccinated in both the private and public sector, Mr. Al Hammad said: "Immunized employees in the public sector account for 97% of the total number of employees, while the percentage of immunized employees in the private sector is 96%,". The large number of immunized employees in both sectors indicates an increase in awareness among them, and a high rate of health safety in work environments.
He called on everyone to take the initiative and get vaccinated to keep everyone else safe from the pandemic.
He shed light on the importance of continuing to adhere to the precautionary measures even after getting vaccinated.
Moreover, everyone should seek to obtain information about the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development from official sources. In addition, everyone is urged to report any violations of the precautionary measures, as well as any breaches to the Labor Law, through “Ma’an Lel Rasd” application (Together We Monitor), available on smartphones. They can also call the unified number 19911 or reach out to the Ministry via its official channels on social media.
Mr. Al Hammad noted that remote work will continue as one of the successful and effective modern work methods during the pandemic. Moreover, the Ministry has allowed government agencies to benefit from this work method by determining the percentage of office employees it deems appropriate, provided that this percentage does not exceed 25%.