Saudi Arabia’s King Salman receives COVID-19 vaccine

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Saudi Arabia’s King Salman received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Neom on Jan. 8, 2021. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia’s King Salman received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Neom on Jan. 8, 2021. (SPA)
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Updated 09 January 2021
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Saudi Arabia’s King Salman receives COVID-19 vaccine

  • ‘Kingdom’s policy is always prevention before treatment’
  • Several Saudi officials have already taken the coronavirus vaccine

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman received the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Neom, Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.

Minister of Health, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, thanked the king, “who provided all types of support in the interest of citizens and residents since from the beginning of the pandemic until this day.”

Al-Rabiah added: “Today, the king received the vaccine in order to prevent him from receiving the virus, and this initiative affirms the Kingdom’s policy is always prevention before treatment.”

Saudi Arabia was the second Gulf country after Bahrain to approve the use of the vaccine, which was developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

The vaccination will be carried out in three stages, the ministry of health said, with each stage targeting a specific demographic.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his bother Prince Khalid bin Salman, along with several other senior Saudi officials, have already taken the first dose of the vaccine, while more than one million people have registered to receive it with more than 100,000 inoculated to date across the three vaccine centers in Riyadh, Makkah and the Eastern Province.

 


Saudi Arabia announces new financial support to the Yemeni government

Updated 45 min 36 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia announces new financial support to the Yemeni government

RIYADH: Saudi Ambassador to Yemen and Supervisor of the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen Mohammed Al-Jaber announced that the Kingdom, under the directives of its leadership, has provided new support to the Yemeni government's budget, aimed at paying the salaries of state employees in all sectors.

In a post on X, Al-Jaber stated that this support complements a package of development projects and initiatives, amounting to SR1.9 billion, announced on Wednesday. The package includes provision of necessary petroleum derivatives to operate power plants, which will contribute to improving the living standards of people in Yemen and alleviating daily burdens on them.

Al-Jaber’s post emphasized, in particular, that all salaries of military and security forces linked to the the higher military committee linked to the Saudi led Coalition will be paid as of Sunday. 

 

The post is likely relate to Several Media reports which have suggested that disgraced former Southern Transitional Council (STC) chief Aidaroos Al Zubaidi — who has now fled Yemen — was taking advantage of military personnel and withholding salaries as means of pressure. Al-Zubaidi is wanted by the Yemeni government for acts of high treason and corruption. 

The ambassador emphasized that these steps come within the framework of supporting the Yemeni government's efforts to implement the economic reform program, which aims to achieve financial and economic stability and enhance the state's ability to meet its basic obligations.