Elizabeth O.
This is as Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that it will allow 60,000 vaccinated citizens of the kingdom to perform the annual hajj.
The hajj ministry said this year’s pilgrimage would be “open for nationals and residents of the kingdom, limited to 60,000 pilgrims”, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
With this, travelers from Nigeria have been banned from performing hajj for the second time in a row.
Last year, the kingdom also hosted downside hajj amid the coronavirus pandemic, preventing thousands of Nigerian pilgrims from participating.
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The pilgrimage, slated to be held at the end of July, would be limited to those who have been vaccinated and are below 65 years of age with no chronic illnesses, it said.
The hajj – a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime — typically packs millions of pilgrims into congested religious sites and could be a major source of contagion.
“In light of what the whole world is witnessing with the coronavirus pandemic… and the emergence of new variants, the relevant authorities have continued to monitor the global health situation,” the hajj ministry said Saturday.
“Considering the large crowds that perform hajj, spending long periods in multiple and specific places… required the highest levels of health precautions,” it added in the statement carried by SPA.
