Jordan on Thursday began vaccinating the first group of Syrian refugees living in Zaatari camp.
43 elderly refugees received China's Sinopharm vaccine at a vaccination centre in Mafraq city, 70 km east of the capital Amman.
2000 refugees living in Zaatari camp have been registered to receive the vaccine.
The UN Refugee Agency says they will activate a vaccination centre in Zaatari camp next week.
About 78-thousand Syrian refugees live in Zaatari camp.
Refugees living in urban areas – who represent 80% of the refugee population in Jordan – will be able to receive the vaccine at their local health clinic.
For those living in the two main refugee camps, UNHCR says it is working closely with the Ministry of Health to administer the vaccination.
Jordan has become one of the world's first countries to start vaccinations for UNHCR-registered refugees, the agency reported on Thursday.
As part of the national COVID-19 vaccination plan which started this week, anyone living on Jordanian soil, including refugees and asylum seekers, is entitled to receive the vaccine free of charge.
Iraqi refugees also started to receive the vaccine in Jordan in different cities around the Kingdom.
Jordan on Wednesday began vaccinating its population starting with frontline workers and vulnerable groups.
Jordanian officials said that they plan to vaccinate 20% of the country's 10.5 million population.
About 3000 people received the vaccine on Wednesday.
Jordan received the first batch of China's Sinopharm vaccine on Saturday and the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Monday.
More than 200,000 people registered to receive the vaccine.
The government has prepared 29 centres around the Kingdom for people to receive the vaccine.
Jordan has reported more than 310,000 confirmed cases and 4091 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
(AP)
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