ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan: Jordan launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive Monday in its huge Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees, in a world first, a UN spokesman said.
“It’s the first vaccination center in the world to open in a refugee camp,” Mohammad Hawari, spokesman in Jordan of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told AFP.
He said that around 2,000 of the 80,000 residents of Zaatari camp on northern Jordan’s border with Syria had signed up with the government to receive the jab.
Some 1,200 of them qualified under the country’s priority system for health workers, those aged over 65 and those with underlying health conditions.
“Today, 52 refugees will receive the vaccine and another 44 on Tuesday,” said Hawari, adding that 164 camp residents had been vaccinated at a center outside Zaatari.
Jordan hosts 663,000 Syrian refugees registered with the United Nations. It started a campaign of free vaccinations of registered refugees on January 13.
According to health authorities, around 50,000 people have so far been vaccinated in Jordan, which has recorded 347,000 cases and 4,455 deaths out of a population of 10.5 million people.
Jordan starts ‘world first’ COVID vaccinations in refugee camp
https://arab.news/nk9q8
Jordan starts ‘world first’ COVID vaccinations in refugee camp
- It’s the first vaccination center in the world to open in a refugee camp
- Around 2,000 had signed up to receive the jab
Israel military says Iran fires new wave of missiles at country
- Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday that it detected missiles heading toward the country from Iran and had activated air defenses, as it pressed a “wave” of strikes against Iran and Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said on its official Telegram account.
AFP journalists heard air raid sirens sounding in Jerusalem and the sound of explosions in the distance.
A short time later, Israel’s military said it was permitted to leave shelters.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services reported no immediate injuries following the missile fire, but said its teams were treating “a small number of people who were injured on their way to protected areas.”
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a satellite communications center in Haifa, along with military bases in Israel, and US targets elsewhere in the Middle East including Iraqi Kurdistan and the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain.
“We will continue our sustained attacks with purpose and power, and in this war, we contemplate nothing but the enemy’s complete surrender,” the Guards said on their website Sepah News.
