Rate of herd immunity to be revealed next week

AMMAN — The Ministry of Health is expected to issue a study next week revealing the percentage of herd immunity in Jordan, according to the Adel Belbeisi, the Ministry of Health’s secretary general for epidemiology and communicable disease.اضافة اعلان

Belbeisi told Jordan News that "there is no official percentage for herd immunity till the moment."

"The percentage will be revealed next week and will be based on a real study that we have conducted," he said, adding that "we will calculate the number of citizens who got infected with coronavirus. … The study will also reveal who got vaccinated and who did not."

Ibrahim Bdour, former MP and a member of the board of trustees at the National Center for Human Rights, previously told Jordan News that “Herd immunity is reached when 70 to 80 percent of Jordan’s population has antibodies against COVID-19,” he said.

According to Bdour, information leaked from the study, which was conducted jointly by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health revealed that 70 to 75 percent of “Jordan’s population or the tested sample” has COVID-19 antibodies.

“This means that around 70 to 75 percent of people in Jordan have herd immunity,” he previously said.

Virologist Azmi Mahafza has also previously stated that the study shows a “76 percent to 80 percent” immunity rate amongst the population.

However, he indicated that vaccination operations should continue “as long as a person remains unvaccinated, whether after the first of September or otherwise.”

Vaccine-producing companies have to improve their vaccines so they last as long as possible and provide longer immunity against the virus.

Mahafza added: “The coming fall season needs follow-up on the spread of viral diseases, and therefore people with low immunity need booster doses.”
He pointed out that the world began vaccination on September 12, and not even a full year has passed since vaccines have been tested.

"The societal immunity in Jordan is great" he said, adding that "the number of infections was significant, in addition to the high number of vaccine recipients, which helped stabilize the epidemiological situation."

It is worth mentioning that the Minister of State for Media Affairs Sakher Dudin has previously stated that 1.588 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination in Amman.

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