King Abdullah Gets COVID-19 Jab as Jordan Reopens Economic Sectors

Jordan’s King Abdullah II was vaccinated alongside his son and Crown Prince Hussein and his uncle Prince Hassan in Amman on Jan. 14, 2021, the royal palace said. (Twitter/@RHCJO)
Jordan’s King Abdullah II was vaccinated alongside his son and Crown Prince Hussein and his uncle Prince Hassan in Amman on Jan. 14, 2021, the royal palace said. (Twitter/@RHCJO)
TT
20

King Abdullah Gets COVID-19 Jab as Jordan Reopens Economic Sectors

Jordan’s King Abdullah II was vaccinated alongside his son and Crown Prince Hussein and his uncle Prince Hassan in Amman on Jan. 14, 2021, the royal palace said. (Twitter/@RHCJO)
Jordan’s King Abdullah II was vaccinated alongside his son and Crown Prince Hussein and his uncle Prince Hassan in Amman on Jan. 14, 2021, the royal palace said. (Twitter/@RHCJO)

Jordan’s King Abdullah II received a COVID-19 vaccine jab on Thursday, a day after the country launched its inoculation campaign.

Also, Crown Prince Hussein and his uncle Prince Hassan received the vaccine jab, according to a tweet by the royal palace.

Jordan kicked off its COVID-19 vaccinations on Wednesday with injections for health care workers, people with chronic illnesses and those over the age of 60.

It also suspended Fridays' blanket lockdown and ordered the gradual reopening of economic sectors.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Jordanian Health Minister Nathir Obeidat said that the situation has changed over the past weeks but hoped for further improvement following the national vaccination campaign.

Also, the Head of the Amman Chamber of Commerce Khalil Hajj Tawfiq hailed the recent decisions by the government, saying that it would alleviate the economic hardship that everyone is suffering from.

Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh had announced earlier easing restrictions on the mobility of citizens and the closed sectors.

Regarding education, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson Ali Al-Ayed said in-class attendance will start gradually in Feb for the second semester while abiding by precautionary measures and protocols set by the Ministry of Education.

Al-Ayed pointed out that new procedures include stopping the Visit Jordan platform for those arriving in the Kingdom by air who are only required to bring a PCR test with a negative result within 72 hours of the date of arrival, in addition to testing upon arrival at the airport, except for children.

He stressed that reopening sectors and easing procedures constantly depends mainly on the commitment of citizens and businesses to the necessary means of prevention from the pandemic.

Jordan has recorded 16 deaths and 1,075 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, bringing the total number of infections since the beginning of the crisis to 312,043, while death toll has risen to 4,107.

The health ministry on Thursday noted that the total number of cases of a more contagious variant first identified in England had risen to 25, with most of the people who arrived in Jordan from abroad.

The government has said it hopes to vaccinate a quarter of the country’s 10 million inhabitants, and the jab would be given free of charge to Jordanians and foreign residents.



Building in Beirut Southern Suburbs Struck After Israeli Warning

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
TT
20

Building in Beirut Southern Suburbs Struck After Israeli Warning

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A building in Beirut’s southern suburbs known as Dahieh was struck on Sunday almost an hour after the Israeli army issued an evacuation order to residents of the area.

The Israeli army's spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, earlier said on X that residents should evacuate several buildings in the Hadath neighborhood and move "at least 300 meters away.”

Residents reported hearing gunfire across the area, which they said they believed was intended to warn people to leave, as well as seeing a massive traffic jam on roads leading from the area.

"To everyone located in the building marked in red on the attached map, and the surrounding buildings: you are near facilities belonging to Hezbollah," Adraee wrote in a post that included a map of the potential targets.

The Israeli army said the building was being used to store precision missiles belonging to Hezbollah.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Hezbollah's precision missiles "posed a significant threat to the State of Israel."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the United States and France, as guarantors of the ceasefire agreement struck in November, to compel Israel to stop its attacks.
"Israel's continued actions in undermining stability will exacerbate tensions and place the region at real risk, threatening its security and stability," he said in a statement.

Earlier this month an Israeli airstrike killed four people, including a Hezbollah official, in Beirut's southern suburbs -the second Israeli strike on a Hezbollah-controlled area of the Lebanese capital in five days.