Canada and the UN have both praised Jordan for this week rolling out Covid-19 vaccines to refugees as well as its own nationals concurrently.
Jordan began its first public inoculations on Wednesday with hospitals in the northern provinces of Irbid and Mafraq giving out the first doses.
The government has begun vaccinating the most vulnerable and the elderly, with people registering through an online portal and being given an appointment by text message. Around 200,000 have registered for vaccination in the first wave.
Raia Alkabasi, an Iraqi living in the northern city of Irbid, became the first refugeeto receive a vaccine on Thursday.
Coronavirus around the world – in pictures
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Nurses talk in front of the 28 de Agosto Hospital in Manaus, Amazon State, Brazil. AFP -
A healthcare worker uses a pipette to process Covid-19 test samples at the SpiceHealth Genome Sequencing Laboratory set up at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India. Bloomberg -
A health worker prepares an injection with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Hospital Infantil in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Reuters -
An undertaker sprays disinfectant liquid around the grave of a person that passed away due to Covid-19 at Glen Forest cemetery in Harare. AFP -
A healthcare worker sits inside a monitoring room after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the Posta Central hospital in Santiago, Chile. Reuters -
A shopper uses a mirror as she tries on a hat in a shopping street in Tokyo. AP Photo -
Restaurant tables block a street during a protest of the sector against the measures taken by the national government to prevent the Covid-19, in Cali, Colombia. AFP -
A woman scans a health QR code on her smartphone to register her visit to a market before crossing the entry checkpoint in Beijing, China. Reuters -
A woman walks after a curfew in Strasbourg, eastern France. AP Photo -
A woman checks her smartphone while passing by a graffiti made on a museum wall, depicting a man wearing a kind of a protective mask painted on his face, in downtown Bucharest, Romania. EPA -
Street vendors sell vegetables on a pavement in Thokoza, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. AP Photo -
A government worker sprays disinfectant at the Klong Toey fresh market after it was temporarily shut down in Bangkok, Thailand. Reuters -
US President-elect Joe Biden removes his face mask to deliver remarks for a televised speech on the current economic and health crises at The Queen Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. Reuters
“Once again, Jordan has shown exemplary leadership and solidarity in hosting refugees. The country has included refugees in every aspect of the public health response to the pandemic, including the national vaccination campaign, proving how it should be done if we are to keep everyone safe,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
He tweeted on Saturday to again praise the “generous leadership” of Jordan for vaccinating the displaced alongside its own nationals.
“Of 90 countries currently developing Covid-19 vaccination campaigns, 51 have decided to include refugees,” he said. “Jordan, host to a large refugee population, has been one of the first to do this – once more showing generous leadership. Inclusion of all is key to beating the pandemic,” Mr Grandi said.
“The vast majority of the world’s refugees are hosted in low- and middle-income countries. The international community must do more to support host governments with access to the vaccines. Global and equitable access is what will ultimately protect lives and stem the pandemic,” he said.
Since the first case of Covid-19 was detected in Jordan’s refugee population last September, 1,928 refugees living in refugee camps have tested positive for the virus, the UNHCR said.
In Jordan, like elsewhere, the true number of cases is thought to be significantly higher than the reported cases due to testing constraints. Jordan has registered 313,000 cases of Covid-19 and 4,121 deaths.
Canada's international development minister joined Mr Grandi’s praise.
Karina Gould told The Canadian Press news agency that the first refugee receiving a vaccination in Jordan was an important milestone in ending the global pandemic.
“It brings an early glimmer of hope to the most vulnerable people right across the globe as we fight this terrible pandemic,” she said.
Canada has provided millions in aid to assist Jordan hosting refugees and displaced peoples from conflicts in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.
About 10 per cent of Jordan's population are refugees, including 661,997 Syrians registered with UNHCR, more than 65,000 Iraqis, 15,000 Yemenis, 6,000 Sudanese and 2,500 from 52 other countries.
