JEDDAH — The largest percentage during Hajj 2022 will be for pilgrims coming from outside Saudi Arabia, and all countries are allowed to participate in Hajj without any exception, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Hisham Saed announced. The spokesperson emphasized during an interview with Al-Arabariya, the decision to set aside the largest percentage of Hajj for pilgrims from abroad is to give them the opportunity, especially after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which did not enable them to perform the Hajj rituals. The Kingdom welcomes all Muslims from all countries of the world and no country will be exempted from performing Hajj, the spokesperson confirmed. He added that there would be quotas allocated to each country for the number of pilgrims, which is a ratio of one to a thousand, and this will be implemented in this year's Hajj with the completion of health conditions. He pointed out that the Kingdom is working to determine these quotas for different countries due to the fact that the holy sites in Makkah have legal and temporal limits that require performing rituals at a specific time and place. To perform Hajj this year, citizens and residents are required to complete three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the spokesperson said, while noting that the definition of an immunized person in Saudi Arabia is for those who has completed the three doses of the vaccine. It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced that it has authorized one million pilgrims, both foreign and domestic, to perform Hajj this year 1443H/2022. The ministry has clarified that this year's Hajj will be conducted according to the following regulations: 1. This year's Hajj is open to those who are under 65 years old and have received approved COVID-19 vaccinations by the Saudi Ministry of Health. 2. Pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom are required to submit a negative COVID-19 PCR test result performed within 72 hours of the time of departure to the Kingdom.
