RIYADH — The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) spokesman Yasser Al-Hakami stated that Saudi Arabia has called on countries to take responsibility for overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic by making vaccines available to everyone following the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). He made this announcement at the press conference held by the Health Ministry here on Sunday, while adding that the Kingdom was keen that intellectual property systems should not be an obstacle to moving vaccines to other countries. On his side, Dr. Mohammed Al-Abdali, official spokesman of the Ministry of Health, confirmed that 6 billion doses have been administered in the world, which is a positive step to combat and contain the epidemic. The spokesman warned that with the approaching of the National Day, everyone, who will be participating in the celebrations, must follow the protocols and be vaccinated. They must have completed the doses, and also adhere to the precautionary measures. He added that Saudi Arabia has administered more than 40 million doses of the vaccines till date since the start of vaccination. The Kingdom revealed Sunday that there were 70 new infections recorded over the past 24 hours as the numbers showed continuing slide in the last five weeks from the 500-mark. At the same press conference, the spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce Abdul Rahman Al-Hussein warned of the importance of being cautious and not overcrowd on the National Day especially in the malls. The crowding, due to the huge amount of offers by stores on this day, could become coronavirus spreader events and cause an increase in cases. Al-Hussein confirmed that the consumers should be aware of their rights and the importance of ensuring the real prices and seasonal discounts in markets and electronic stores. He explained that the Ministry of Commerce required stores to obtain a license to present offers and discounts and to place them in a place that helps the consumer to verify it. Setting the percentage of the discount and the price of the product before and after the discount is important, he added. The spokesman added that more than 2,700 facilities have obtained licenses for the National Day. It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Commerce has provided an electronic service to issue licenses for discounts for commercial establishments. Al-Hussein called on everyone to carry "Balagh Tijary" application to be able to know the discounts throughout the Kingdom and to report any violations. Visit https://mci.gov.sa/ar/Pages/MobileApps.aspx to download the "Balagh Tijary" application. The Ministry of Interior too announced that more than 26,000 violations of precautionary measures were detected in a week.
