Saudi Arabia hopes to have enough vaccines for 70% of population by end of 2021

Announcement comes after online G20 summit at weekend, which was hosted by Riyadh

A Palestinian artist paints a mural of a mask-clad schoolgirl in Gaza City. AFP

A doctor collects a sample for a coronavirus test outside a clinic in Kajang on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. AP Photo

A woman sits at her flooded house in Quang Binh province, Vietnam. Reuters

Aviva Markowitz, left, and Rivka Alter enjoy a drink in a protective bubble at the Lazy Bean Cafe in Teaneck, New Jersey. AP Photo

Actors react at the end of the show after the reopening of the Great Gatsby in London's West End. Reuters

Healthcare workers attend to a coronavirus patient at the Intensive Care Unit of Sao Joao Hospital in Porto. AFP

Musicians play during a tribute to health workers who died amid the new coronavirus pandemic, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. AFP

A street vendor sells facemasks in Piliyandala, a suburb of Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. AFP

Passengers they wait to board a flight at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, in Taiwan. Reuters

A man has his temperature checked on arrival to a midday sermon at Lakemba Mosque in Sydney, Australia. Getty Images

People look at Apple products at an Apple Store in Shanghai, China. Reuters

Relatives react outside a house where a person died from Covid-19 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Reuters

A person cycles past an empty Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II as the region of Lombardy imposes a curfew after being hit by a surge of Covid-19 infections, in Milan, Italy. Reuters

A man sits on the empty stands of La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires before the start of the closed-door Copa Libertadores group phase football match between Argentina's Boca Juniors and Venezuela's Caracas. AFP

Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry said it hoped to have enough coronavirus vaccines to cover 70 per cent of the kingdom's population by the end of 2021.

During a speech on Al-Ekhbariya TV on Monday, Dr Abdullah Asiri, assistant undersecretary at the ministry, said coronavirus vaccines would be provided to all free of charge, under the direction of King Salman.

Dr Asiri said Saudi Arabia would obtain vaccines through Covax, the vaccines pillar of the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator launched by the G20, and through companies outside of the consortium.

“One of the most important goals set by the G20 during Saudi Arabia’s G20 presidency is to support all-inclusive and equitable access to vaccines, diagnostic and treatment tools,” he said.

At a briefing on Friday during the G20 Riyadh Summit, Dr Abdullah Al Rabeeah, supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre said Saudi Arabia would be among the first countries to obtain a Covid-19 vaccine.

Dr Al Rabeeah said the kingdom had spent more than $200 million on vaccine and drug development.

King Salman ordered free coronavirus treatment for all citizens in March, when the pandemic hit.

Those under 16 are not eligible unless further studies prove it is effective.

Dr Asiri said a comprehensive vaccine distribution plan would “arrive in the coming weeks.”

Three vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have been found to be at least 70 per cent effective.

More than 58 million people have contracted Covid-19 globally and nearly 1.4 million have died from it.