MOH spokesman, Dr. Muhammed Al-Abdulaali, said that pandemic indicators in the Kingdom and the world continue to decline. The Kingdom is seeing a significant decrease in the number of cases, which indicates that the world is taking steady steps in the face of this pandemic. Nearly 43.3 million doses were given to people in the Kingdom, and about 20 million people were given the two doses of the vaccine.
Al-Abdulaali explained that many people wrongly believe that they can rely on natural immunity or immunity that is acquired from recovery (infection-induced immunity) to defeat the virus. This causes them to wait for a few months before they take the second dose of the vaccine, and it is a completely wrong concept that resulted from new updates on the delta variant. Natural immunity does not guarantee protection from the virus and it does not compare to the immunity resulting from taking the two recommended doses of the vaccine, which is why the vaccine is made available for everyone.
Al-Abdulaali revealed that 59 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Kingdom, bringing the total cases to 547,591. 2,220 active cases were reported, in addition to 139 critical cases.
The MOH spokesman made this statement in the COVID-19 briefing held on Sunday, with the participation of Saleh Al-Zowayed, spokesman of the Saudi Public Transport Authority (PTA). Al-Abdulaali mentioned that 41 COVID-19 recoveries were reported, bringing the total number of recoveries 536,626 to date. And 2 new mortalities were reported, bringing the total number of mortalities to 8,745.
For his part, Saleh Al-Zowayed said that using public transportations requires taking the two doses of the vaccine, effective from Sunday, 4 Rabee’ I 1443H, corresponding to 10 October 2021. He stressed the importance of adhering to MOH's preventive measures.
He added that transportation is the backbone of the everyday life of citizens and meets the needs of a large segment of society. “The Public Transport Authority seeks to provide safe and healthy trips through various means of transportation, whether land or sea transportations,” he explained. More than 750,000 people use public transportation in the Kingdom every day. This includes buses taken for trips from and to cities or inside them, as well as school or tourist buses, taxi cabs, ride hailing services, and trains, including the East and North trains, as well as the Haramain train, and the ferries between Jazan and Farasan.
To maintain the safety of everyone and create a safe and healthy society, starting today, no one will be allowed to use public transportation without receiving the two doses of the vaccines approved by MOH.
All facilities licensed to engage in transport activities must adhere to the preventive measures approved by the concerned authorities and announced on the website of the Public Health Authority, including the condition of obtaining the two vaccine doses and checking each individual's health status on ‘Tawakkalna’ application before they are allowed into transportation means, in addition to requiring everyone to wear face masks the entire time of the trip. It is also essential to sanitize parts used by a large number of people (e.g. passenger cabins, door knobs, etc.). The number of passengers inside buses, ferries and the economy class on trains must not exceed 50% of the total capacity. Physical distance must also be maintained inside vehicles. There must be at least one empty seat between every two passengers.
He explained that the supervisory teams in the Public Transport Authority will be intensifying monitoring tours, to support the efforts made by all the concerned authorities to ensure that all licensed facilities apply the preventive measures properly. He noted that last September these teams carried out more than 90,000 field inspection rounds, during which 145 violations of the precautionary measures were recorded.
Al-Zowayed said that the authority is keen on providing safe and healthy transportation for everybody. He called on licensed facilities and beneficiaries to support all efforts, implement precautionary measures, and help address and prevent the spread of this virus.