More university students take COVID-19 jab following recent defence order

AMMAN — The number of students who are not permitted entry into campuses of the Kingdom’s universities and colleges has reached 42,137 since Defence Order No. 35 came into force, according to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Defence Order No. 35 of 2021 came into effect on January 1, 2022. It stipulates that no person over the age of 18 is allowed to visit any ministry, public department or private sector institution unless they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Over the phone, the ministry’s spokesperson Muhannad Al Khatib told The Jordan Times that “students who are not fully vaccinated are not allowed to take in-person classes or participate in any on-campus activity”.

He added that since the beginning of the year, 26,362 university and college students have been vaccinated, of which 6,648 have received one dose, and 19,714 have been fully vaccinated. 

“Until now, 3.3 per cent of all administrative and teaching staff, alongside students in Jordan’s public and private universities and colleges have received the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said. 

A ministry statement sent to The Jordan Times showed that 19,714 out of 42,137 banned students received both doses since the defence order, leaving 22,423 students who still cannot enter campus. This constitutes 6.4 per cent of the overall higher education student population. 

All students who were not allowed to enter campus to take their examinations due to the absence of a vaccination can set a new date for make-up examinations after they receive the second dose of the vaccine and present their vaccine certificate to the concerned official, according to Khatib.