Jordan's Health Ministry signed deals with vaccine manufacturing companies that have already started supplying the kingdom with vaccines after receiving approval from the Jordanian Food and Drug Administration.
However, some medical sources were concerned the supply chain would decline due to the increase in global demand for vaccines, which will prevent a fair distribution in markets.
In this context, experts in microbiology and immunology, former minister Dr. Azmi Mahafzah said people’s hesitation to receive the vaccine is concerning. The rate of registered people wishing to take the vaccine is still low, he noted, stressing that 2.5 million Jordanians should be vaccinated.
In his statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, Mahafzah said another challenge facing health authorities is the ability to provide vaccines while vaccine-producing companies are still unable to meet the increasing global demand. He further pointed to the inequality in the distribution, rejecting any statement about controlling the virus’s outbreak before vaccinating 70 percent of the population.
Mahafzah, who is a member of the National Committee for Epidemics and known for opposing government decisions on confronting the health crisis, considered statements on community immunity unethical, in light of the development of medical science and pharmaceutical industries.
Also, Professor and consultant of clinical pharmacotherapy for infectious diseases Dr. Dirar Balawi told Asharq Al-Awsat that about 300,000 Jordanians have registered to receive the vaccine.
Only 30,000 citizens and residents have been vaccinated during the past 10 days, he stated, indicating the low rate of adherence to the deadlines for taking the vaccine.
“Competent authorities send between 6,000 and 10,000 messages daily to citizens who want to receive the vaccine, yet only 50 percent go to specialized medical centers.”
Balawi justified this low rate by citing scientific studies, which revealed that the turnout for any modern treatment does not exceed 2.5 percent from the “initiators” category and 13.5 percent of the “post-initiators” category.
The increase in the demand for the vaccine locally could come in line with a decline in companies’ ability to supply vaccine chains, Balawi warned.
He noted that this would lead to a wide domestic crisis, especially if the kingdom faced a new coronavirus wave with high numbers of infections and deaths.
