Coronavirus Outbreak in Nigeria and DPT3 Vaccination

Abstract

COVID-19 has its origin in China. The index case in Nigeria was an Italian citizen from Milan confirmed on the 27th of February 2020. Ever since, there has been a continuous increase in number of cases. The pandemic has exposed the weakness in our health system and port monitoring system. When the timeline and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals were being decided, it was not imagined that the world would experience a pandemic like COVID-19. Nigeria is ranked 160 out of 166 countries in the 2020 SDG Index with a score of 49.3. Nigeria tops the list of countries in which about two-thirds of children aged 12-23 months have not yet been reached with a single dose of the diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine. Nigeria is one of the African countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper assessed the patterns of COVID-19, the third dose of DPT (DPT3) coverage as well as the plausible link between vulnerability to COVID-19 and DPT3 coverage. The paper analysed the NCDC daily situation reports from inception to October 10, 2020. Immunization coverage for DPT3 in Nigeria is lower than in sub-Saharan Africa. Vulnerability to COVID-19 cuts across the states irrespective of whether there has been an increase or decrease in DPT3 coverage. The attending disruption in healthcare services consequent on the pandemic is likely to negatively affect the DPT3 coverage rate across the country.