RIYADH — The Ministry of Health official spokesman Dr. Muhammad Al-Abdel Ali confirmed that giving a third booster dose to people over the age of 60 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is still under study. The Health Ministry spokesman, at the press conference here on Sunday, reiterated the importance of giving a third booster dose of the vaccine to those in high-risk groups especially those who have immune disorders, those who have been exposed to organ transplants and those who have chronic kidney disease. He also pointed out that the Health Ministry has not yet approved vaccination or the number of the doses for age groups of 5 to 11. Dr. Mohammed Al-Abdali confirmed that 6 billion doses have been administered in the world, which is a positive step to combat and contain the epidemic. He added that Saudi Arabia has administered more than 41 million doses of the vaccines till date since the start of vaccination. New COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia stayed below the 50-mark for the second straight day on Sunday, with 44 new infections recorded over the past 24 hours. At the same press conference, Saad Al-Hammad, spokesman of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD), said that the ministry carried out 8,700 inspection tours to monitor violators of precautionary measures during the period from Aug. 23 to Sept. 23. The MHRSD confirmed 1,984 precautionary measures violations in private sector establishments, and 1,561 people were apprehended for violating preventive measures. The Ministry of Interior too announced that more than 19,000 violations of precautionary measures were detected in a week.
