Riyadh, Oct 23 (IANS): The Saudi health ministry has intensified its nationwide campaign against seasonal flu by introducing vaccination centres in shopping malls, the media reported on Friday.

The centres are located in Sahara Mall in Riyadh, Universal Plaza in Jeddah, Mall of Dhahran and Taif complex in Taif city, Arab News reported.

Abdulaziz bin Saeed, deputy minister of public health, had launched the campaign two weeks ago in Riyadh to cover at least 1.5 million people in all parts of the country.

Speaking about the second phase of the vaccination campaign, which was launched on Thursday, Health Ministry spokesman Faisal Al-Zahrani said there will be separate vaccination centres for men and women.

The seasonal flu vaccine protects against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. Traditional flu vaccines, called “trivalent” vaccines, protect against three flu viruses - influenza A (H1N1) virus, influenza A (H3N2) virus and influenza B virus.