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Updated August 2024
As the Hajj season ended a month back, pilgrims are awaiting the announcement of the next season in 2025. Regardless of the season, fulfilling certain health-related requirements is imperative for every pilgrim to partake in this sacred journey.
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Keep reading with Wego to know what these requirements are and how you can become eligible for Hajj in 2025.
Table of Contents
Hajj 2025 vaccination requirements
No new information has been released regarding Hajj vaccinations for the 2025 season.
According to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, in the last Hajj season, pilgrims must receive their vaccinations at least 10 days before the start of the Hajj season in order to be eligible to perform the Hajj rituals. It is mandatory for pilgrims to complete all required vaccinations before a Hajj permit can be issued.
Yellow fever vaccine
Vaccination against yellow fever was mandatory for attending the last Hajj season.
According to the International Health Regulations 2005, pilgrims arriving from countries or areas at risk of yellow fever must present a valid yellow fever vaccination certificate showing that the person was vaccinated at least ten days and ten years before arrival border.
In the case of the absence of such a certificate, the pilgrim will be placed under strict surveillance for six days from the date of vaccination or the last date of potential exposure to infection, whichever is earlier.
Here’s the list of the yellow fever risk countries:
Americas:
- Guyana
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Surinam
- Ecuador
- Argentina
- Venezuela
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Trinidad and Tobago
- French Guiana
Africa:
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Liberia
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Sudan
- Gambia
- Togo
- Uganda
- Angola
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo
- Côte d’Ivoire
- DR Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- South Sudan
Meningococcal Meningitis vaccine
Vaccination against Meningococcal Meningitis is mandatory for the last Hajj season. Hajj pilgrims needed to submit a vaccination certificate against meningitis with the quadrivalent (ACYW135) vaccine issued no more than three years and no less than ten days before arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Polio vaccine
In the last hajj season, all pilgrims from polio-endemic countries and re-established transmission countries needed proof of polio vaccination at least six weeks before departure to apply for an entry visa for Saudi Arabia. They must have received one dose of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV), regardless of their age and vaccination status.
In addition, pilgrims from such countries under the age of 15 would also receive one dose of OPV at border points on arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Below is the list of polio-endemic and high-risk of re-importation of poliovirus countries:
- Afghanistan
- Chad
- India
- Kenya
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Somalia
- Yemen
Flu shot
In the last hajj season, the Saudi Ministry of Health recommended that international pilgrims be vaccinated against seasonal influenza before arrival in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, particularly those at increased risk of severe influenza diseases.
These include travelers arriving in Hajj areas for Hajj, seasonal work or other purposes, particularly pregnant women, children under 5 years, the elderly, individuals with chronic medical conditions (such as chronic cardiac, pulmonary, renal, metabolic, neurodevelopmental, liver, or hematologic diseases) and individuals with immunosuppressive conditions (such as HIV/AIDS, receiving chemotherapy or steroids, or malignancy).
