RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Monday started vaccinating children aged 12 to 18, following approval from the Kingdom’s Food and Drug Authority based on scientific research announced on Sunday. The health departments in Riyadh and Hafr Al-Batin said they had started inoculating children between the ages of 12 and 18 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The health department in Al-Jawf has started giving the second dose of the vaccine to individuals aged 50 and over, while it said it is continuing to provide the first dose to those who have not received it yet. The Kingdom recorded 14 new COVID-19 related deaths on Monday, raising the total number of fatalities to 7,789. The Ministry of Health confirmed 1,318 new confirmed cases reported in the Kingdom in the previous 24 hours, meaning 484,539 people have now contracted the disease.  Of the total number of cases, 11,204 remain active and 1,438 in critical condition. According to the ministry, the highest number of cases were recorded in Makkah with 345, followed by the Eastern Province with 302, the capital Riyadh with 247, Asir recorded 161, and Jazan confirmed 93 cases. #الصحة ⁩ تعلن عن تسجيل (1318) حالة إصابة جديدة بفيروس كورونا (كوفيد-19)، وتسجيل (14) حالات وفيات رحمهم الله، وتسجيل (1290) حالة تعافي ليصبح إجمالي عدد الحالات المتعافية (465,546) حالة ولله الحمد. pic.twitter.com/FQAkHhitGj — و ز ا ر ة ا لـ صـ حـ ة السعودية (@SaudiMOH) June 28, 2021 The health ministry also announced that 1,290 patients had recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 465,546. The ministry renewed its call on the public to register to receive the vaccine, and adhere to the measures and abide by instructions. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs reopened nine mosques in four regions after temporarily evacuating and sterilizing them after nine people tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of mosques closed and reopened after being sterilized to 1,693 within 142 days. The coronavirus pandemic has affected over 181 million people globally and the death toll has reached around 3.94 million.