Covid-19: Jordan becomes the first country to vaccinate refugees on its soil
A Jordanian receives the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 at a vaccination center in Amman, the Jordanian capital, on January 13, 2021. AFP - KHALIL MAZRAAWI
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
King Abdullah 2 of Jordan and his son Crown Prince Hussein were vaccinated this week to mark the launch of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the kingdom.
The authorities first want to vaccinate a quarter of the 10 million Jordanians.
Notably, the country is the first to vaccinate refugees on its soil.
They are 750,000 refugees, according to the UN, the vast majority of Syrians having fled the war.
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"
Refugees, like the local population, have the possibility of accessing health centers in the various governorates,
" said Francesco Bert, head of external relations at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Amman, at the microphone of
Nicolas Falez,
from the International service of RFI.
What is important here is as the refugees are part [of the population], as they live here in the country, to vaccinate them, that means kind of protecting everyone.
If refugees are excluded from the National Immunization Plan, it means that the virus continues to circulate.
"
For Francesco Bert, other countries should follow this example.
“
The Jordanians have started vaccination,”
he continues.
Obviously, we hope that other countries will follow.
Obviously, it is also about the possibility of having the vaccines already present in the territory.
Again, Jordan is one of the last countries - especially here in the Middle East - to start the national immunization campaign.
"
"
Emergency license
"
Jordan launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign this Wednesday, January 13, starting with healthcare workers, people with chronic diseases and those over the age of 60.
Amman announced on Saturday that it had granted an "
emergency license
" to use the Chinese vaccine from Sinopharm, the second vaccine to be approved in Jordan after the American-German Pfizer-BioNTech.
The Ministry of Health has selected 29 vaccination centers across Jordan, including seven in the capital.
The authorities' goal is to vaccinate around a quarter of the 10 million inhabitants.
The vaccine is free for Jordanians and foreign residents.
Restrictions gradually lifted
Following a drop in contamination in recent weeks, Prime Minister Bicher al-Khasawneh indicated that the restrictions put in place to stem the spread of the virus, including a curfew on Friday, would be lifted as and when this week, and that schools would reopen in February.
Jordan has recorded more than 310,000 cases of Covid-19 infection and 4,091 deaths.
Five cases of the British variant of the virus, considered to be more contagious, have been reported.
► To read also: What do we know about the different variants of Covid-19?
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