Indonesia Still Requires Meningitis Vaccine for Umrah Pilgrims

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) is still checking the completeness of the meningitis vaccine for Umrah pilgrims at the airport because there has been no official letter from the Government of Saudi Arabia stating that the meningitis vaccine is no longer a requirement to enter the country, Ihram com reported.

Secretary General of the Independent Affiliate for the Implementation of Indonesian Hajj Umrah (Ampuh) Tri Winarto said, until now, (Kemenkes) is still asking for proof of meningitis vaccines for Umrah pilgrims even though Saudi Arabia no longer requires everyone who enters the country to get meningitis vaccine first.

He admitted that he was frequently contacted by fellow Umrah travel organizers (PPIU). They complain about the scarcity of the meningitis vaccine. Tri hopes that the Ministry of Health will immediately respond to Saudi Arabia’s policy of not making the meningitis vaccine and Covid-19 vaccine a condition for entering the country. Therefore, the Ministry of Health should no longer require Umrah pilgrims to be vaccinated before leaving for the holy land.

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According to him, with the slow response of the Ministry of Health to Saudi Arabia’s policy, the public became suspicious that the Ministry of Health was taking advantage of the vaccine. For this reason, the Ministry of Health is still asking Umrah pilgrims for proof of vaccines even though Saudi Arabia no longer requires meningitis vaccines.

The same thing was conveyed by the General Chairperson of the Central Executive Board of the Muslim Association of Hajj and Umrah Organizers of the Republic of Indonesia (DPP Amphuri) Firman M Nur. He regretted the actions of Kemenkes which did not immediately respond to the release of the Meningitis Vaccine from Saudi Arabia. Until now, Umrah pilgrims are still asked to show the meningitis vaccine to the Port Health Office (KKP) at the airport.

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Firman confirmed that the meeting of the Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Tawfiq Alrabiah with the Vice President and the Minister of Religion is the official visit of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Indonesia. The meeting discussed several conveniences, i.e the stay period is 90 days, free of Mahram, no age limit and the abolition of the Miningitis and Covid-19 Vaccination obligations.

According to him, what the Saudi Arabian Government has said should have been implemented without an official letter because it involves the process of applying for an Umrah visa.

Firman said, this policy should be welcomed by the Ministry of Health because until now the Ministry of Health has not been able to overcome the problem of vaccines in several regions in Indonesia

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“Moreover, we know that currently the scarcity of the meningitis vaccine is a barrier to the departure of Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia,” he said. (T/ri/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)