In a Saturday statement, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, said that the kingdom does not plan to bar any ‘high-risk for swine flu’ pilgrim from performing the Hajj pilgrimage this year.

A yearly attraction for nearly three million people from 160 countries, the Hajj pilgrimage - which most able-bodied Muslims undertake at least once in their lifetime – commences this year on November 25, at a time when the winter flu season is about to set on in the Northern Hemisphere.

The pilgrimage has clearly rung the alarm bells for the world health officials, in terms of the spread of swine flu, because of the density of pilgrims. The shoulder-to-shoulder contact of the pilgrims, during the time of offering prayers, has raised fears of a high-scale spread of swine flu.

Al-Rabeeah, who was speaking at the launch of a national swine flu vaccine campaign on Saturday, emphasized the need for precautionary measures to be taken by the countries where pilgrims set out from.

Under the first stage of the national swine flu vaccine campaign, nearly one million doses of the vaccine - approved by the Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA), the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA), and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – will be administered on a priority basis to the pilgrims living in Saudi Arabia, health workers and other officials involved in the Hajj.