A Case of Vaccine Discrimination - The Situation of Refugees and Their Access to the Covid-19 Vaccine

Opinion Policy Analysis by Annabelle Ghanem, Contributor

April 8th, 2021

As 2020 slowly came to an end, the World Health Organization made a grand breakthrough by issuing its first emergency use approval for a Covid-19 vaccine, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Several vaccines issued from countries such as China and the United Kingdom were also recognized by nations around the world soon after, and were quickly made available for distribution, in hopes of being administered to a large portion of the population as quickly as possible. Governments immediately began securing large amounts of doses, while simultaneously developing policies and strategies in order to effectively use their accumulated vaccinations to weaken the coronavirus’ spread, lower their country’s death rates, and bring their entire nation one step closer to the normal life we once knew. Unfortunately, many of the national policies drafted by nation leaders did not account for a large portion of the human race which has suffered tremendously throughout this pandemic: the refugee population. 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that there are over 80 million forcibly displaced individuals around our world as of mid-2020. These men, women, and children sought refuge in countries across the globe, searching for better economic opportunities and security in foreign lands. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has crippled economies along its prolonged path, leaving 85% of the current world refugee population living in nations now classified as low and middle income countries. This has had tremendous effects on the livelihoods and overall survival of refugees throughout this pandemic, ranging from lack of Covid-19 measures and protocols being put in place within camps, to limited access of medical supplies and personnel, and above all, a drastic decrease to the already low salaries received by refugees. Unfortunately, these circumstances were not enough to place a certain sense of priority, or even mere consideration, towards the refugee population with many of the world’s nations failing to include refugees in their countrywide vaccination plans. 

As of December 2020, out of the 90 countries who have been developing vaccination plans for their nations, only 51-57% have included vaccine provisions for refugees within their strategies. In fact, some of the world’s largest host countries have yet to announce their efforts to ensure the provision of vaccines to the great number of refugees within their borders. Turkey, for instance, has begun it’s vaccination efforts across the country, administering doses to over 4 million of its population. However, the country has failed to publicly declare any form of plan or statement of assurance towards whether or not its refugee population, of which remains the largest refugee count in the world, will have access to the Covid-19 vaccine. This can be seen as an act to prevent social backlash deriving from the prevailing ill-sentiment embedded within nationals towards Syrian refugees living in their country. 

Colombia is another example of a host country not declaring any form of vaccination efforts towards its refugees, despite holding hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants and refugees within its borders. In fact, nation leaders have publicly announced that they will not be providing vaccines to its foreigner residents who sought refuge in their country, alarming human rights activists and refugee organizations. President Iván Duque Márquez later attempted to justify the following decision by saying it was made to prioritize Colombians and prevent a surge of people rushing to the border to obtain the vaccine.

Despite the obvious moral and humane reasoning behind the importance of vaccinating the world’s refugee population, it is important to note that without taking them into account during the nation’s pandemic plan drafting, the global vaccination effort will not reach its full capacity for success. For starters, allowing refugees to continue contracting and spreading the virus will both prevent an overall eradication of Covid-19 within a nation, as well as open the door to spillovers into the greater population to occur. Furthermore, it is no secret that many refugees continuously struggle with the accumulation of sanitary and nutritional necessities, weakening their immune systems and increasing the possibility for fatality if one were to contract the virus. Last but not least, the UNHRC explains that “it is impossible to break or sustainably slow the transmission of the virus unless a minimum of 70 per cent of the population has acquired immunity.”

Recognizing the urgency and necessity to provide vaccination opportunities for the entirety of a country’s residential population, several nations have included refugees within their vaccination plans from the very get go. Jordan was the first country in the world to begin vaccinating its refugee population, setting the absolute example for policymakers to follow suit as they draft their nation’s plans throughout the coming months. Germany also recognized the urgency behind vaccinating its refugee population early on, classifying those “who live or work in refugee or homeless facilities as the second-highest priority in its vaccination strategy.” 

Including refugees in a nation’s vaccination plans is an absolute must, particularly in order to adhere to the set responsibilities of host countries to protect and care for their residents, regardless of their personal status. Refugees are too often discriminated against in all spheres of life. However, this pandemic has surely taught us that regardless of where we came from or how privileged we were lucky to have been, we are all cut from the same cloth. We are all exposed and at risk to this deadly virus that has jeopardized all our lives for far too long, and therefore, we must all be given an equal chance to be protected and survive this pandemic.