On Tuesday, King Abdullah of Jordan directed the government to reopen schools and various sectors in a systematic manner that safeguards public health and the national economy. This was announced by the Jordanian government in a press release late Tuesday evening. King Abdullah of Jordan attended a meeting together with his son Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II with the National Policies Council on Tuesday and stressed that public health has been the top priority since the outbreak of COVID-19.
On 2 March 2020, the Ministry of Health confirmed the first case in Jordan. As of 9 January 2021, 305.000 Jordanians have been infected with COVID-19 of whom 3.989 have died.
During the meeting, His Majesty said compliance with public safety measures must continue to maintain improvement in the epidemiological situation and facilitate the reopening of various sectors. Also during the meeting, the King was briefed by Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh and the concerned officials on the latest developments and the measures taken to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Jordanian monarch has been heavily involved in the pandemic response to make sure things go as smoothly as possible. When, in 2020, His Majesty was the guest of honour in the virtual G20 Summit, King Abdullah stressed the need to counter the global humanitarian and economic implications of COVID-19, especially the impact on food security, poverty, unemployment and education. The Jordanian king urged action to ensure the efficient and equitable distribution of the coronavirus vaccines to be available to all, adding that Jordan’s pharmaceutical sector could contribute to mass production and distribution efforts.
On 15 December of 2020, the King announced that he had approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine’s emergency use. The vaccine is now distributed free of charge to foreign residents as well as Jordanians in the country. The King of Jordan also stated in the past that Jordan was in talks on the use of two other COVID vaccines being developed by British pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca and US group Johnson & Johnson.
