Saudi Arabia will not allow pilgrims from Nigeria and other countries to participate in the 2021 Hajj over coronavirus concerns.
The Saudi Arabia government disclosed that only 60,000 vaccinated residents of the kingdom will be allowed to perform the annual hajj scheduled for July this year, Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
This is the second year that the kingdom is restricting people from travelling to Saudi Arabia for hajj amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency said the pilgrimage would be open to only residents who have been vaccinated and are below 65 years of age with no chronic illnesses, it said.
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.
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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.
Only up to 10,000 Muslims took part in last year, a far cry from the 2.5 million who participated in the five-day annual pilgrimage in 2019.
The hajj minister was quoted as saying, “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.”
“Considering the large crowds that perform hajj, spending long periods of time in multiple and specific places… required the highest levels of health precautions.”
