The king of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, received his shot of COVID-19 vaccine in the city of Neom, the Saudi Press Agency reported Friday.
According to the report, the kingdom's Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, thanked the 85-year-old monarch for his willingness to inoculate as part of the king's support toward the citizens of the country.
"Today, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques received the vaccine, out of his desire, may God bless him, to prevent this virus and this initiative from him - may God protect him - is an affirmation that the Kingdom's policy lies in prevention always before treatment", the agency quotes Al-Rabiah.
At the end of December, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman became the first citizen of the kingdom to be inoculated against coronavirus in a televised broadcast, after the country's health ministry approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as safe and efficient.
According to data from the World Health Organization, since the start of the pandemic, Saudi Arabia has registered a total of more than 363,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and the death toll stands at 6,278. The average daily number of infections in the kingdom stands at around 100 new cases a day.