Saudi newspapers highlighted in their editorials today a number of issues at local, regional and international arenas. Al-Riyadh, Al-Bilad and Al-Yaum newspapers reported in their editorials that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to confirm that preserving the health of citizens and residents is a top priority. Therefore, the concerned authorities take all measures to protect the people's health and safety. In this regard, on Sunday, August 1, 2021, a new important stage in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic was launched by implementing the immunization requirement, approved by the Ministry of Health for the prevention of the novel Coronavirus. According to the decision, only vaccinated individuals can enter the following places: economic, commercial, cultural, entertainment or sports activities, cultural, educational, social or entertainment events, governmental private establishments, whether as an employee or a visitor, governmental or private educational facilities and when using public transportation. As the decision came into force, the concerned authorities also issued a step-by-step mechanism for dealing with unvaccinated employees within the Saudi public, private, and nonprofit sectors, in order to ensure the efficiency of the workflow and to preserve the health of all employees, the newspapers further said. The papers added that this decision came after Saudi Arabia achieved an outstanding success in addressing the global pandemic through taking numerous precautionary and preventive measures. It also came in light of the continuous outbreaks of the pandemic and the spread of new variants of the virus. Additionally, providing the vaccines and the spread of vaccination centers across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, contributed to raising awareness that the vaccines are highly safe. The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses that have been administered in Saudi Arabia reached about 27 million doses since the centers continue to witness a great turnout from the members of the society, the newspapers noted. The newspapers concluded that the details of the immunization requirement decision as well as the details issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development regarding unvaccinated employees affirm the Saudi government keenness to create a safe and healthy environment.
