1st coronavirus vaccine shipments to arrive in Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan announces it is expecting the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine to arrive in the kingdom tonight.

Wael Hayajneh, the Health Ministry’s official in charge of COVID-19, says the vaccines are coming from state-owned Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm.

Another shipment, of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, is expected to get to the Middle Eastern kingdom on Monday, Hayajneh says.

Jordan plans to start its vaccination drive on Wednesday. It has arranged to secure 200,000 doses in the first quarter of 2021 from Pfizer and Sinopharm and possibly other vaccine suppliers.

Jordan’s health minister has said the inoculations will first target 20% to 25% of the frontline workers and vulnerable groups.

Jordan, with a population of 10 million, has recorded over 4,000 COVID-19 deaths and 305,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.