Saudi vaccinates 1.1 mln pilgrims during Hajj season

RIYADH, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia announced Sunday the vaccination of more than 1.1 million pilgrims through health control centers at ports of entry, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Health Ministry confirmed that until Friday, 804,237 pilgrims were vaccinated against meningitis, 236,569 pilgrims vaccinated against polio and 97,705 pilgrims vaccinated against yellow fever.

The vaccination program is part of serious steps taken by the ministry to prevent the spreading of contagious and epidemic diseases that could lead to catastrophic results with the expected arrival of more than 2 million pilgrims from all over the world to perform Hajj in Mecca this year.