Earlier in October, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said that pilgrims wishing to perform Umrah will no longer be required to wait for 14 days to book for the ritual.
Coming amid a series of procedures to ease coronavirus preventive measures, the decision is expected to increase the operational capacity of the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah.
“In line with the developments at this stage, which in turn increased the demand in the dates available to perform Umrah, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah made this feature available for pilgrims,” Dr. Amr Al-Maddah, the chief of planning and strategy officer at the ministry, said in an interview with Arab News.
“This condition is no longer necessary and will achieve a fair opportunity for all due to the high demand,” he said.
Saudi Arabia stopped the Umrah following the pandemic but reopened it to immunized domestic worshippers in October last year.
In August, the Kingdom announced it will begin accepting vaccinated foreigners wanting to make the Umrah pilgrimage.