A new report of the World Health Organization finds that existing policies on the inclusion of refugees and migrants in vaccine national plans and their implementation vary greatly across countries and regions globally, with disparities in access based on the legal status, age, and the context in which these populations live. The report notes that most countries do not specify a clear policy on refugee and migrant entitlement to vaccination and that where more inclusive policies exist, there are often gaps in their implementation.

Ensuring the integration of refugees and migrants into immunization policies, planning and service delivery globally – the third report of the WHO Global Evidence Review on Health and Migration (GEHM) series – identifies specific and unique barriers that refugees and migrants may face in accessing vaccines. These include administrative and policy barriers; individual-level barriers, including trust, cultural, religious, social norms and beliefs; logistic barriers such as availability and accessibility of vaccinations; information and communication barriers; and financial barriers.