Jordan PM, ministers have had Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine: health minister

Jordan has officially registered more than 305,000 novel coronavirus cases and nearly 4,000 deaths. (File: Reuters)

• Jordan is set to start its vaccination campaign on Wednesday
• Sinopharm says its vaccine is 79 percent effective against the novel coronavirus

AMMAN: Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh and several other members of the government received the Chinese Sinopharm novel coronavirus vaccine during its testing phase, the health minister said Sunday.
"Jordan took part in clinical trials for the Chinese vaccine. The prime minister and several other ministers, including myself, received the vaccine," Nazir Obeidat said at a press conference.
"The vaccines that have been bought for the vaccination campaign in the kingdom are all safe and effective," he added, urging Jordanians to come forward for the jabs.
Jordan is set to start its vaccination campaign on Wednesday.
It said Saturday it had approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, after giving the Pfizer-BioNTech jab the green light.
Sinopharm says its vaccine is 79 percent effective against the novel coronavirus.
Jordan's health minister said in November that vaccines would be distributed free of charge to Jordanians and foreign residents.
The Hashemite kingdom has officially registered more than 305,000 novel coronavirus cases and nearly 4,000 deaths.