Older persons and those living in care homes should be prioritized when COVID-19 vaccines become available, according to the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom.

Adhanom made the remarks on Wednesday in his address to civil society organizations on "Integration of Palliative Care into National COVID Response Plans"

"At the same time, older people and those living in care homes remain especially at risk from COVID-19. They must be a priority as vaccines become available," said Tedros.

The WHO chief noted that the agency is concerned about the global disparities in the availability and accessibility of controlled medicines that are used for palliative care, a situation exacerbated by the pandemic.

"This is a problem even in normal times, but the COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruptions to supply chains and shortages of these critical medicines," he said.

He hailed countries that had made progress in the provision of palliative care to patients in need, and called upon other countries to emulate such developments.