{"id":7019535,"date":"2025-01-14T16:39:32","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T15:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/?p=7019535"},"modified":"2025-01-17T11:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T10:17:12","slug":"new-health-requirement-mandatory-vaccine-for-lomra-and-pelinages-from-february-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/blog\/nouvelle-exigence-sanitaire-vaccin-obligatoire-pour-lomra-et-les-pelerinages-a-partir-de-fevrier-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia requires meningitis vaccine from February 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-danger-color\">** Updated January 17, 2025 at 11 a.m. **<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From February 1, 2025, Saudi Arabia will impose a new health rule for all travelers entering its territory, including pilgrims performing Umrah or Hajj. <strong>This measure makes it compulsory for all adults and children aged one and over to present a certificate of vaccination against meningitis.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The required vaccine is meningococcal tetravalent (ACYW135), which must be <strong>administered at least 10 days before your trip to Saudi Arabia<\/strong>. This decision is aimed at preventing the spread of infectious diseases, particularly at large religious gatherings where the risk of transmission is high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saudi Arabia's General Civil Aviation Authority (GACA) has issued an important circular for all airlines operating in the Kingdom, including private aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Capture-decran-2025-01-14-a-16.09.32.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"936\" height=\"1168\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Capture-decran-2025-01-14-a-16.09.32.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7019541\" style=\"width:563px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Capture-decran-2025-01-14-a-16.09.32.png 936w, https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Capture-decran-2025-01-14-a-16.09.32-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Capture-decran-2025-01-14-a-16.09.32-821x1024.png 821w, https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Capture-decran-2025-01-14-a-16.09.32-768x958.png 768w, https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Capture-decran-2025-01-14-a-16.09.32-10x12.png 10w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">All travelers? Not exactly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This new requirement applies primarily to people making the Hajj or Omra pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-danger-color\">The difference with the previous situation is that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>other reasons for visiting are also concerned<\/strong><\/span> (\u201c<em>regardless of visa type<\/em>\") provided they are in a holy place or in an Omra zone.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-danger-color\">In other words, a visitor to Mecca for a simple visit will have to comply with this constraint.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-danger-color\">The list of Umrah zones is as follows:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-danger-color\">Mecca<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-danger-color\">Medina<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-danger-color\">Djeddah<\/mark><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-danger-color\">Taif<\/mark><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If this update is anything to go by, <strong>just visiting Riyadh should \"avoid\" having to go through the vaccine procedure<\/strong>But it's up to the airline to decide whether or not to take you on board...<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.moh.gov.sa\/en\/HealthAwareness\/Pilgrims_Health\/Documents\/Health-Regulations-Umrah-EN.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"638\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-17-at-11.12.26.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7019550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-17-at-11.12.26.png 880w, https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-17-at-11.12.26-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-17-at-11.12.26-768x557.png 768w, https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-17-at-11.12.26-18x12.png 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Travel agencies and health authorities in the countries concerned must adapt quickly to inform and prepare travelers. If you're planning a trip to Saudi Arabia after February 1, 2025, you'll need to find out about <strong>vaccination against meningococcal disease<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Recommendations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Consult your GP before travelling.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Check the availability of the vaccine in your country.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Obtain the required international vaccination certificate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plan your vaccination at least 10 days before departure.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>This measure underlines the importance of health preparation for international travel, particularly for pilgrimages which attract millions of people every year. You can read our article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visasaudi.sa.com\/article\/vaccin-obligatoire-voyager-arabie-saoudite\/\">https:\/\/www.visasaudi.sa.com\/article\/vaccin-obligatoire-voyager-arabie-saoudite\/<\/a>Click here to find out more about the vaccines recommended for travel to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Specific measures for certain countries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Meningitis circle\" countries<\/strong>&nbsp;Travelers from high-risk African countries will receive additional preventive treatment on arrival.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Polio vaccination<\/strong>&nbsp;Nationals of certain countries (Pakistan, Syria, Yemen) must present a certificate of oral polio vaccination, carried out six weeks prior to travel. An additional dose will be administered on arrival.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can consult the list of compulsory and recommended vaccines from the Saudi Ministry of Health on their website: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moh.gov.sa\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/www.moh.gov.sa\/en\/<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>** Updated January 17, 2025 at 11am ** From February 1, 2025, Saudi Arabia will impose a new health rule for all travelers entering its territory, including pilgrims performing Umrah or Hajj. This measure makes it compulsory to present a certificate of vaccination against meningitis for ... <a title=\"Saudi Arabia requires meningitis vaccine from February 2025\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/blog\/nouvelle-exigence-sanitaire-vaccin-obligatoire-pour-lomra-et-les-pelerinages-a-partir-de-fevrier-2025\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Saudi Arabia mandates meningitis vaccine from February 2025\">Read the article<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7019536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-7019535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moyen-orient","tag-arabie-saoudite"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7019535"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7019554,"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019535\/revisions\/7019554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7019536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7019535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7019535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visamundi.co\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7019535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}