Another scaled-down hajj this year amid COVID-19

Hajj pilgrims streamed out of the holy city of Mecca Sunday, launching the rituals of the great pilgrimage that Saudi Arabia is holding in a scaled-down form for a second year to ward off the coronavirus pandemic.

Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, at the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 18, 2021.

The pilgrimage to Mecca is required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to make it, used to draw more than 2 million people. But for a second straight year, it has been curtailed due to the coronavirus with only vaccinated people in Saudi Arabia able to participate.

Saudi police officers form a fence in front of Muslim pilgrims as they pray in front of the rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2021.

A Muslim pilgrim films the rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, July 19, 2021.

Muslim pilgrims run at a special part between the two hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, to commemorates Lady Hagar's search for water for her son and herself, at the Grand Mosque, a day before the annual hajj pilgrimage, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 17, 2021.

A Muslim pilgrim wears his Ihram as he prepares to enter the Grand Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 17, 2021.

Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, as they wear masks and keep social distancing, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 17, 2021.

Workers disinfect the grounds as Muslim pilgrims circumambulate around the Kaaba, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 17, 2021.

A Muslim pilgrim prays at his tent camp in Mina, near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 18, 2021.

A pigeon flies over the Grand Mosque, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 17, 2021.

Laborers bring the new Kiswa, the protective cover that engulfs the Kaaba, made from black silk and gold thread and embroidered with Koran verses, in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on the night before the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage, July 19, 2021.

A Muslim pilgrim prays in front of the rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual hajj pilgrimage, near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2021.

Pigeons walk on the social distancing marks, as Muslim pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 17, 2021.

Muslim pilgrims pray in front of the rocky hill known as Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2021.

Muslim pilgrims circumambulate around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 17, 2021.