‘Lucky’ few start downsized Hajj pilgrimage amid restrictions

Only 60,000 vaccinated Saudi citizens and residents between the ages of 18 and 65 started the annual ritual.

The annual Hajj pilgrimage has kicked off in Saudi Arabia with only a few thousand people gathered on the Plain of Arafat on Monday for the start of the five-day-long rituals. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a once-in-a-lifetime duty for all able-bodied Muslims to perform if they can afford it. In the years before the pandemic, about 2.5 million pilgrims from across the world flocked to Islam’s holiest site to attend the Hajj.