Saudi Arabia to give $133,000 to families of health workers who died in Covid-19 pandemic

Saudis and residents will qualify for the payments

Dr Mohammed Al Abdali, Saudi Health Ministry spokesman, also warned people against believing rumours about the purported risks of Covid-19 vaccines. AFP

Families of healthcare workers who died of Covid-19 while helping people in Saudi Arabia’s hospitals will be given 500,000 riyals ($133,000) as a gesture of thanks.

Minister of Health and Chairman of the Saudi Health Council, Dr Tawfiq Al Rabiah said the process of compensating families had begun and applied to those whose family members worked in the government funded and private parts of the sector.

Dr Al Rabiah said Saudi Arabia had "made great efforts to contain this epidemic, control the situation and prevent its spread by all scientific and practical means, while the state allocated huge budgets to enhance the readiness of the health sector".

Saudi Arabia Olympic karate 'hero' Tareg Hamedi rewarded with 5 million riyals

Cases of coronavirus in Saudi Arabia are dropping, with Saturday being the third day in a row that new cases remained under 1,000.

Vaccinations are rising, with 29.5 million doses having been handed out so far, the government says. Close to ten million people are fully inoculated, and nearly 20 million have had one dose.

Also on Sunday, the Saudi authorities moved to reassure people that vaccines were safe.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Dr Mohammed Al Abdali, said no deaths had been recorded as a result of Covid-19 vaccines, and warned people against believing rumours.

Saudi Arabia has approved the Pfizer BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for use. Sinopharm and Sinovac are yet to be approved.

A safe Hajj- in pictures

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Muslim pilgrims take a selfie after they cast stones during a symbolic stoning of the devil ritual during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, near Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The coronavirus has taken its toll on the hajj for a second year running. What once drew some 2-5 million Muslims from all walks of life from across the globe, the hajj pilgrimage is now almost unrecognizable in scale.

Updated: August 8th 2021, 6:31 PM