WHO commends Jordan’s COVID response

AMMAN — Jordan has set an example in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic through strengthening the Kingdom’s health system, Director of the Regional Office for the World Health Organisation (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Ahmed Al Mandhari said on Wednesday.

Speaking during a virtual press briefing on the latest developments related to the pandemic, Mandhari said that Jordan, along with other regional countries, has suffered from the pandemic and spared no efforts to address the disease despite scarce resources, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

WHO Representative to Jordan Maria Cristina Profili praised the government’s efforts in protecting Jordanians, as well as WHO’s partners and donors in empowering the most vulnerable segments.

Profili noted that the government’s response was quick in enhancing the Kingdom’s health system, and managed, in a short time, to increase the number of hospital beds three-fold nationwide.

The WHO official also said that some 300,000 people have registered on the national vaccination platform, of whom around 30,000 have received the vaccine, noting that 43 Syrian refugees at the Zaatari camp received vaccines on January 14.

Jordan was the seventh country in the region to have received the COVID-19 vaccines, the representative said, noting that the WHO office in Amman works closely with the government on the 11-phase vaccination plan that targets 20 per cent of the population.

The Kingdom agreed with COVAX Coalition to secure one million dosages of COVID-19 vaccines, where WHO subsidises one-third of this quantity, Profili said, noting that Amman is about to contact other vaccine manufacturers to secure additional amounts.