Ammon News - More than 83,000 citizens in the southern Red Sea port of Aqaba have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 61,000 have received the second dose, according to the governorate’s Director of Health Affairs, Adnan Abbas, Jordan News Agency Petra reported.

Abbas said on Thursday that the turnout to receive the jabs in Aqaba increased after Defense Order No. 32, which requires public servants and public transport drivers to get the COVID-19 vaccination or to undergo a PCR test twice a week instead.

Abbas predicted the number of immunizations to rise to 100,000 for the target group above the age of 18 by the end of this August. The Ministry of Health, he added, has allocated 16 sites to receive the jabs in Aqaba, including the Wadi Araba and Al-Muzafer crossings, under the supervision of specialized medical teams to conduct a rapid coronavirus test and give the vaccine around the clock, as reported by Jordan News Agency Petra.

Aqaba, Abbas underlined, has the lion’s share of vaccines because it is a tourist and economic city. He stated that health cadres worked around the clock to immunize and conduct PCR examinations for citizens, residents and visitors to the governorate alike.

As for students under the age of 18, Abbas said 3,370 students, out of a total of 28,313 in the 12-18 age group, have been vaccinated, urging parents to encourage their children to receive the vaccine in preparation for the resumption of in-person education.