Jordan to open COVID vaccinations for 12-year-olds

Jordan's health ministry announced Saturday that COVID-19 vaccines will now be available for children aged 12 and above.

The ministry "has decided to lower the COVID-19 vaccination age to 12 years, starting from Sunday July 25" and without requiring an appointment, the ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page on Saturday.

"Vaccination will be optional, and those under 18 will be able to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine with the consent of their guardian," the statement added.

Jordan, a country of 10 million people, has officially recorded more than 763,900 coronavirus cases, including over 9,900 deaths, since the start of its outbreak.

Some 1.9 million people have been fully inoculated against COVID-19, while 2.7 million have received an initial vaccine dose.

The United States, Canada and the European Union have already authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12-year-olds.

Amman said last month it had concluded several agreements to obtain a total of around 12 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, and planned to order five million additional jabs.

The country last weekend received half a million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses from Washington.

Authorities are pushing the population to take up the vaccines, and have adopted restrictive or punitive measures targeting those who fail to do so.

The measures include requiring unvaccinated or partially vaccinated public sector employees to present a negative COVID-19 test twice a week, and prohibiting the issuance or renewal of work and residency permits for those who are not fully vaccinated.