400K people received coronavirus booster shot, says official

400K people received coronavirus booster shot, says official

Ammon News - Around 400,000 people have received the booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine so far, said Adel Bilbeisi, health adviser at the prime minister's office and the official in charge of the COVID-19 crisis.

In a statement to the Jordan News Agency (Petra) Tuesday, Bilbeisi stressed the need to receive the third dose three months after the second shot, noting that it enhances immunity against the virus and its variants by 80 percent.

About 40 percent of the Kingdom's population over the age of 18 were given the vaccine, 70 percent of whom got the first jab, and 65 percent got the second, the COVID-19 pointman indicated.

Bilbeisi predicted an increase in the number of coronavirus infections over the next two weeks as the fourth wave of the respiratory disease continues, which saw a spread of the Delta and Omicron variants. He said the peak of this wave will hit during the first week of February.

On hospital admissions, he assured that coronavirus patients' admission and occupancy rate is "comforting," reaching about 30 percent. Death rate from the virus has significantly dropped, he underscored, as the national immunization campaign continues.

On easing COVID-19 restrictions, Bilbeisi stated that the government will introduce