RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, as part of the national inoculation plan implemented by the Ministry of Health, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday. Minister of Health, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, thanked the crown prince for “his keenness and continuous follow-up to provide vaccines to citizens and residents.” “What we are seeing today regarding the gains that have been achieved by the Kingdom since the beginning of the pandemic are an extension of one of the most important policies within Vision 2030 that prevention is better than cure,” Al-Rabiah said. #WATCH: #SaudiArabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives his first dose of a #COVID19 vaccine on Friday. Read more here: https://t.co/wWANuP3Ks5pic.twitter.com/AteUMxa9ul — Arab News (@arabnews) December 25, 2020 He added that this was brought about by stepping up precautionary measures, while putting people’s health first. Al-Rabiah said the government has worked to provide a safe and internationally approved vaccine in record time to give to citizens and residents, “which made the Kingdom one of the best countries in the world in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.” Over 500,000 people have already registered to take the COVID-19 vaccine in in Saudi Arabia since its launch last Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.