Saudi Arabia Allows Entry to People Vaccinated with Sputnik V

On Saturday, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia allowed entry to people vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V, according to TASS.

"Those vaccinated with Sputnik V must undergo a 48-hour quarantine and pass a PCR test after entering [Saudi Arabia]," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia requires full vaccination against COVID-19 for everyone willing to make a hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.

In August 2020, Russia became the first country in the world to register a vaccine against the coronavirus, dubbed Sputnik V and developed by the Gamaleya research institute.

So far, the Sputnik V vaccine has been approved in 71 countries worldwide with an overall population exceeding 4 billion people. According to the vaccine developers, Sputnik V effectiveness rate is 97.6% based on analysis of data from 3.8 million vaccinated Russians.