Updated July 2: The UNHCR has issued updated guidelines for vaccination. See the most recent information here.

Asylum seekers and third-country nationals are from Thursday eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the government said. 

In a post on Facebook, the Department of Information said that, as from July 1, all asylum seekers and third-country nationals "will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine".

According to the department, an identity document is required for vaccination although this can be "an asylum seeker's document, police card, or any other such document that is available" to the individuals.

Confusion over registration rules

The DOI said that migrants would not need to pre-register for the vaccine. But that Facebook post was subsequently deleted. 

United Nations refugee agency UNCHR later said that while it and other organisations had been led to believe that refugees and asylum-seekers would be allowed to get vaccinated at the University of Malta as of July 1 without needing to pre-register, they had now learned that this was not in fact the case.

"We will be passing on the correct information as soon as we have it clarified by all relevant parties," UNHCR said.