Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi discussed Friday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the swift delivery of vaccines, as the country battles a spike in COVID-19 cases.
In a phone conversation with China's top diplomat, Safadi discussed means to further boost bilateral ties, namely, the fight against the novel coronavirus.
They stressed the strength of bilateral relations and the keenness of the two friendly countries to continue working to increase economic, investment, tourism and trade cooperation, Petra news agency said.
On Friday, Jordan recorded 55 COVID-19 related deaths and 7,705 new infections, bringing the total number of cases since the beginning of the crisis to 464,856, a statement issued by the Health Ministry said.
Amid rising daily infections, the Jordanian cabinet decided on Wednesday to close indoor swimming pools, sports centers, academies and public parks until the end of March, and it prolonged a curfew from 7 pm till 6 am as of Saturday.
Awqaf Minister Muhammad Khalaileh also suspended Friday prayers until March 31.
Jordan received on Friday the first shipment of 144,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/SK Bioscience COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX Facility at Queen Alia International Airport.
"We now see the results of partnership with the COVAX Facility. This supply is very timely to support our efforts to accelerate the COVID-19 national immunization campaign. We will continue offering the COVID-19 vaccines to the most vulnerable populations," said Minister of Health Nathir Obeidat.
A second shipment of vaccines from COVAX is expected to arrive in Jordan in April.
Last month, Obeidat said Jordan is set to receive 2.2 million doses of Pfizer- BioNTech’s vaccine.