Delivery Strategy For Covid-19 Vaccination And A Review Of Secondary Data From A Tertiary Health Facility, North-central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: COVID-19, which started in Wuhan, China, spread and affected over 200 countries causing various social, economic, psychological and  health impacts. It weakened the health system and halted ongoing preventive programs. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute  respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS -COV-2). On March 11, 2020, it was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. To deter the spread  of the disease, the TEACH strategy for COVID-19 vaccination was launched in March 2021 by NPHCDA of the Federal Ministry of Health in Nigeria. The  objective of this paper is to review the strategy for COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria using data from a tertiary health facility as a case study.

Methodology: A Medline search and search of other internet search engines such as Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, Research gate and WHO.int was  carried out for published studies on COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria, Africa and worldwide. A total of 29 publications were reviewed; Journals 23, Reports  4 and Guidelines 2. Opinions of relevant stakeholders were sought and records of COVID-19 immunization activities at UITH was also analyzed.

Findings: People with comorbidities did not present at the launch of the vaccination in UITH probably due to myth and fears about the vaccine. The  proportion of health workers vaccinated exceeded others reflecting the prioritization matrix used in TEACH strategy. Fever was the most common AEFI  reported in UITH (27%) and vaccine hesitancy was a big challenge.

Conclusion: The usage of electronic registration in the TEACH strategy can be explored for routine vaccines. Allocation of funds for COVID-19 vaccines,  risk communication and community engagement among others are ways to help solve the challenges surrounding COVID-19 vaccination strategy in  Nigeria.