Sinovac Vaccine Not Recognized By Saudi Arabia, Indonesian Umrah Congregants Must Use Pfizer Boosters To Moderna

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JAKARTA - The government of Saudi Arabia has opened the faucet for Umrah worship for various countries, including Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a condition of entry, the Saudi Arabian government only recognizes that the Umrah pilgrims have been vaccinated against Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson.

This is an obstacle for Indonesia. Because the majority of vaccines used by the Government of Indonesia are Sinovac.

This was conveyed by the Chairperson of the Indonesian Umrah and Hajj Bureau of Entrepreneurs Association (Perpuhi) Her Suprabu, Monday, October 11.

"The problem is that most of the prospective Umrah pilgrims from Indonesia use Sinovac, while Saudi Arabia has not recognized Sinovac," he said as reported by era.id, Tuesday, October 12.

For this reason, one solution is that the government provides booster vaccines for prospective Umrah pilgrims.

"That's why we hope that a booster vaccine will be available soon. If the rules are from Saudi Arabia, prospective pilgrims must be injected with a booster vaccine 14 days before departure," he said.

For the system, the booster vaccine will be given in a paid way, such as the meningitis vaccine. So this is a mandatory requirement for prospective pilgrims. In addition to booster vaccines and meningitis vaccines, other requirements are passing a health test and attaching PCR results.

"Therefore, there may be an additional cost of around IDR 5 million to IDR 7 million. If the total cost is predicted to reach IDR 30 million," he said.

This additional cost is also to provide new normal post-umrah services for health protocol services (prokes). Just as one room is used for two pilgrims, the bus capacity is reduced in number, and for the cost of PCR tests and medical tests.

"In the next month it is possible to be dispatched immediately while waiting for the government to resolve the vaccine problem," he said.

In addition, the duration of the Umrah pilgrimage has been extended to 25 days. This is due to quarantine obligations, both from the Saudi Arabian government and the Indonesian government.