ISLAMABAD: The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) welcomed Pakistani government’s efforts to vaccinate Afghan refugees as part of its COVID-19 vaccination program, a representative for the body said on Tuesday. 

Pakistan hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees and, according to some estimates, some 1 million unregistered Afghan nationals.

Only slightly more than 2.7 vaccines have been administered so far in a nation of 220 million people that aims to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of the year,

“It’s very important that Pakistan has taken this positive step of including refugees in its vaccination efforts,” UNHCR’s Representative in Pakistan, Noriko Yoshida, said in a statement on Tuesday. “It [virus] poses an equal threat for all. Nobody is safe until we are all safe.”

UNHCR said in some parts of the country, Afghan refugees who meet the criteria for receiving a vaccine had already started to register themselves: “More than 10 refugees so far have received the first dose of the vaccine.”

The National Command and Operation Center – the body responsible for Pakistan’s COVID-19 response – approved the inclusion of foreigners, including Afghan refugees with Proof of Registration Cards (PoR) cards, in its vaccination program in March.

UNHCR said it was working closely with Pakistan’s Ministry of Health, other relevant authorities and UN agencies to raise awareness among refugees about the vaccine.