Saudi says children under 12 exempt from vaccination requirement for outdoor events

Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has announced that children below the age of 12 are exempt from the requirement of having Covid-19 vaccination and are permitted to attend recreational events and activities in open spaces.

GEA’s new regulation is contingent on the conditions that the children are accompanied by fully vaccinated adults, they do not show any influenza-like symptoms (fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat), and their status on the Tawakkalna App shows “Uninfected” or “Not Exposed’, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

However, the authority added that only children who have taken a single dose or two doses of the vaccine or who have achieved immunity after full recovery can attend entertainment events held indoors.

GEA had previously issued regulations mandating that access to entertainment events would only be granted to fully vaccinated people.

It has also set the attendance limit at 40 per cent capacity for outdoor entertainment events, while also requiring attendees to adhere to the preventive measures including social distancing, wearing masks and making sanitizers available in all the areas within the venue.

Saudi authorities reported 751 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections recorded in the kingdom to 535,927.

Among the new cases, 147 were in Makkah region, 111 in the Eastern Province, 107 in Riyadh region and 47 in Madinah region.

It also reported nine more Covid-19-related deaths, taking the overall toll to 8,366.

Meanwhile 1,389 patients recovered from the virus, with the total number of recoveries in the kingdom at 517,379.

A total of 10,182 cases remain active, including 1,407 patients in critical condition.