Khaberni - The Director of Epidemics in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ayman Mqaablah, announced the introduction of the 14th vaccine into the National Immunization Program, which is the chickenpox vaccine (Varicella), coinciding with the celebration of "World Immunization Week".
Mqaablah said, for the Jordanian News Agency (Petra), that the ministry will officially start including this vaccine starting from May 9th, where it will be given to children at the age of one year in a single dose, noting that the decision includes all children born from January 1, 2025, who are among the targeted groups and have reached the age of one year.
He added that the inclusion of the chickenpox vaccine is a strategic quality step, and it will be provided in all health centers through the departments of motherhood and childhood starting from May 9th, which enshrines the principle of health equity and universal access for all society categories.
Regarding the vaccine's safety, Mqaablah indicated that it is not a new vaccine, as it has been used globally since 1995, providing a wide database on the effectiveness of the vaccine in reducing the spread of the disease and its complications.
He pointed out that the decision to include it was based on scientific recommendations issued by the National Technical Advisory Committee on Immunization, in addition to national studies conducted in Jordan with the participation of national experts, which showed a significant direct and indirect economic burden of the chickenpox disease, enhancing the importance of preventive intervention through the vaccine.
Mqaablah reviewed the historical development of the National Immunization Program, noting that it has seen significant leaps since 1982 when the measles vaccine was introduced, followed by the hepatitis B vaccine in 1995, leading up to the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine (PCV) in 2025 to reduce diseases associated with it.
He affirmed that these cumulative efforts have resulted in significant national achievements, where the last case of polio in the kingdom was recorded in 1992, and the last cases of diphtheria and tetanus in 1995, placing Jordan among the leading countries globally in controlling infectious diseases.
He noted that Jordan is one of the pioneering countries in adopting "combined vaccines" which contain more than one antigen in a single dose, aiming to reduce the number of injections and alleviate the physical and psychological burden on children and their families while maintaining the highest degrees of efficacy, notably the trivalent viral vaccine (MMR) (measles, German measles, and mumps), and the hexavalent composite vaccines that protect against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, Haemophilus influenzae, hepatitis B, and polio.
It is noted that World Immunization Week, which runs from April 24 to 30 every year, aims to highlight the collective work necessary to promote the use of vaccines to protect individuals of all ages from diseases, and the celebration of this week involves vaccinating more individuals and their communities to protect them from diseases through vaccines.
