Shoppers in Saudi Arabia required to scan COVID-19 app before entering malls

Consumers must scan a barcode through the ‘Tawakkalna’ app before entering commercial centers and complexes throughout Saudi Arabia. (File/SPA)

• Commercial establishments must place the code for automatic health verification permits at the entrances
• Staff are responsible for ensuring that consumers scan the barcode before they enter

RIYADH: Shoppers in Saudi Arabia are required to scan the national COVID-19 app on their smart phones to enter malls, commercial centers and complexes to prove they have been vaccinated, authorities said on Monday.
Consumers must scan a barcode through the “Tawakkalna” app before entering commercial centers and complexes to automatically check their immunization status, the spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, Abdulrahman Al-Hussein, said.
He made the announcement during a press conference on the developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in the capital, Riyadh.
Commercial establishments must place the code for automatic health verification permits at the entrances and staff are responsible for ensuring that consumers scan the barcode before they enter, Al-Hussein added.
He said that all the small shops in the retail sector, such as grocery stores, launderettes, barber shops and tailors, are obligated to verify consumers immunization via the app manually.
Only individuals who have been fully vaccinated, aside from those with exceptions, are permitted to commercial establishments and Al-Hussein said “the new automated health verification service in the app will contribute to raising the rates of commitment and compliance with the precautionary measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in malls, shopping centers and complexes.”