Saudis to begin mass flu vaccinations as hajj near

RIYADH, November 2, 2009 (AFP) - Saudi Arabia is to begin vaccinating hundreds of thousands of health and hajj workers and domestic pilgrims against swine flu next week, a senior health official said on Monday, as flu deaths in the kingdom hit 62.

The country has received the first tranche of 11 million vaccine doses it has ordered for the A(H1N1) flu.

It is strongly urging anyone working on the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina this month to be vaccinated, said Dr Ziad Memish, the assistant deputy health minister for preventive medicine.

"The priority is for local pilgrims," he told AFP, referring to the estimated one-million plus Saudis and residents of the kingdom who will embark on the hajj this month.

The vaccines will also be made available -- but not mandatory -- for health workers, hundreds of thousands of government and private sector workers dealing with the hajj, and residents of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, he said.

The hajj, which peaks this year during November 25-29, swells the region in western Saudi Arabia with some two million pilgrims from some 80 countries, including more than one million from inside the country.

Deaths have reached 62, most of them involving people with other health problems, Memish said, while confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia are close to 7,000 since the first case was reported on June 3.