Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq al Rabiah says all Hajj pilgrims are now welcome to Islam's holiest cities of Mecca and Medina this year after numbers were drastically curtailed in 2020 due to Covid-19.
Around 60,000 Saudi citizens and residents perform Hajj this year compared with some 2.5 million in 2019.
Only people aged between 18 and 65 who have been vaccinated will be able to take part in this year's Hajj, which will begin in mid-July, state-run Saudi Press Agency announced on Saturday.
For the first time in modern history, the annual pilgrimage in Mecca in Saudi Arabia has dramatically reduced the number of pilgrims from 2.5 million to as few as 1,000 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The kingdom will be taking its part in a safety drive, a year after the annual Islamic rite suffered its deadliest disaster in a generation.
Iranian pilgrims are set to miss out on the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year amid a row with Saudi Arabia.
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