KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — Prospective Haj pilgrims must check and understand the pre-conditions on Covid-19 vaccination set by the Saudi Arabian government, before receiving a valid faruda visa from any travel agency, said TH Travel & Services (THTS) CEO, Datuk Ahmad Ruzman Ahmad Razali.
Ruzman said according to the latest information, the four Covid-19 vaccines approved by Saudi Arabia for prospective pilgrims this year are Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.
He said prospective pilgrims must have completed both doses of the vaccine and could only depart for Saudi Arabia 14 days after the second dose.
“Taking into account the vaccination time interval, the pilgrims would need five weeks to complete both doses of the vaccine to comply with the requirements set to perform the Haj this year...the furada Haj visas will be issued at the end of Zulkaedah (between June 20 and 30 this year).
“As such, it will be quite difficult for pilgrims using the furada visa to perform the Haj this year as they will not have much time to meet the vaccination requirements,” he told reporters here today.
Ruzman also advised prospective pilgrims to go through TH licenced Haj Pilgrimage Operators (PJH) to obtain the furada Haj visa.
A furada visa is a Haj pilgrimage visa obtained directly from the Saudi Arabia Embassy through certain Saudi agencies. The visa is separate from the Haj pilgrimage quota for a country and is issued at the last minute depending on availability.
Earlier, Ruzman handed over ten laptops to Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) Integrated 2.0 director Dr Shahabuddin Ibrahim, at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (MAEPS) in Serdang.
He said the donation was to help ease the burden of frontline personnel in carrying out their duties at the PKRC.
Meanwhile, Dr Shahabudin said his team at the centre welcomed the participation of the private and public sectors in working together to curb Covid-19 transmission. — Bernama
