Launching COVID-19 vaccination in Saudi Arabia: Lessons learned, and the way forward

Abdullah Assiri; Jaffar A Al-Tawfiq; Monira Alkhalifa; Hessa Al Duhailan; Sara Al Qahtani; Reema Abu Dawas; Abdul Aziz El Seoudi; Najd Alomran; Omar Abu Omar; Nawaf Alotaibi; Sami S Almudarra; Khalid Alabdulkarim; Saleh Alqahtani; Hani Jokhdar

doi:10.1016/j.tmaid.2021.102119

Launching COVID-19 vaccination in Saudi Arabia: Lessons learned, and the way forward

Travel Med Infect Dis. 2021 Sep-Oct:43:102119. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2021.102119. Epub 2021 Jun 13.

Affiliations

¹ Deputy Ministry for Public Health, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Infectious Disease Unit, Specialty Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Infectious Disease Division, Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Infectious Disease Division, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Vaccination Operation Center, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Deputy Ministry for Public Health, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Vaccination Operation Center, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Liver Transplant Center, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Division ofGastroenterology and Hepatology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Abstract

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV- 2) emerged in Wuhan City, China. The SARS-CoV-2 crossed borders and quickly transformed into a "Public health emergency of international concern". Countries around the globe are in the race to achieve herd immunity. We describe the steps taken by Saudi Arabia to achieve this goal.

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Vaccines*
COVID-19*
Humans
SARS-CoV-2
Saudi Arabia
Vaccination

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines