The world has a "global responsibility" to safeguard the health of refugees from COVID-19, Jordan's King Abdullah told a virtual meeting of leaders on Thursday after his country became one of the first to vaccinate refugees.
Ensuring refugees and migrants get vaccinated is key to ending the pandemic through herd immunity, which requires a large portion of a community developing immunity to a virus either through natural infection or vaccination, experts say.
"It is a moral duty to treat the vaccine as a global public good that ensures that low-income and poor countries are not left at the end of the waiting line," the monarch said during an online address organised by the World Economic Forum.
"Amidst these challenging times, safeguarding the health and wellbeing of refugees remain a global responsibility," he said.