Friday, the Assistant Secretary-General for Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health Ghazi Sharkas, discussed the latest developments of the declining pandemic in Jordan, adding that “it is wise to gradually reopen sectors.”

Sharkas warned, despite the infection decrease and the flattening of the curve, reopening the closed sectors at once may bring forward a new pandemic-progress setback.

The ministry is doing all it can to monitor all gathering places, especially mosques on Fridays, he added.

Worshipers will be examined using a PCR test prior to entering the mosque. However, it will be optional for those who wish to take the test, said Sharkas.

Sharkas said that similar procedures will be conducted in malls as a form of monitoring within gathering places, in attempts to keep the reins on the virus and to discover more COVID-19 infections.

The field hospital in Amman is near completion, Sharkas said, adding that it will start receiving patients soon. The field hospital containis 400 beds, 80 of which are ICU beds.

In regards to 2021, Sharkas expressed the ministry's priority is to flatten the pandemic curve. However, he assured that once stability is achieved, measures and restrictions will surely ease.

Sharkas said that Jordan will obtain the coronavirus vaccines in two different ways, with the chance for a third option.

Notably, the Head of the Coronavirus Portfolio at the Ministry of Health Wael Al-Hayajneh announced Thursday that Jordan has finalized agreements with Pfizer to obtain enough vaccines for five percent of the population, and that the Kingdom has made agreements with the COVAX alliance to vaccinate a further 10 percent of the population.

He said that the Pfizer vaccine may arrive in Jordan February, at a rate that suffices five percent of Jordanians and may even reach 10 percent of the population. Additionally, he claimed that the COVAX alliance may increase vaccination access to 20 percent of the population.

Sharkas indicated that the third option may be the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm, which may be brought in if studies prove its efficiency.