KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 — The Saudi Arabian government has included Sinovac in its list of recognised vaccines to gain entry into the country.        

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad said the public could convey the good news to family members who intended to perform Haj and umrah in Saudi Arabia.

"Let us all pray for the affairs of Malaysian pilgrims who have been approved to perform the Haj this year, to be facilitated by Allah,” he said in a post on his official Facebook page.

Zulkifli also shared a link to the Saudi Arabian health ministry’s website https://eservices.moh.gov.sa for reference purposes.

With the latest development, Saudi Arabia now recognises six types of vaccines, namely Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Sinopharm and Sinovac.

Prior to this, it was reported that only pilgrims who received the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines would be allowed to perform the Haj, and this raised concerns among Malaysians who received the Sinovac vaccine. — Bernama