COVID-19 Vaccine: Challenges of the distribution and vaccination in North-West Nigeria and the way forward

This cross-sectional study examines the challenges of COVID-19 vaccines: distribution and vaccination across the seven (7) states of the North-West region of Nigeria that include Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Jigawa states. A summary of secondary data was obtained at the website of the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) on the 14th and 15th of July 2021. A simple descriptive analysis was conducted on the data. The research findings revealed that a total number of 17,016 laboratory confirmed cases were reported; 747,800 AstraZeneca Vaccines were distributed, a total number of 221,829 people were vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine as of 15th of July 2021. Out of the 17,016 laboratories’ confirmed cases, more than half (53%) were recorded from Kaduna state while less than 1% were reported in Zamfara state. The reason for such several confirmed cases in Kaduna state was partly due to the large number of travelers who came in and out of the state from Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory which had one of the highest numbers of cases in the whole of Nigeria. Case Fatality Rate (CFR) at the regional level was given as 1%, while Sokoto and Kebbi states were leading by 4% each. Analysis of the findings revealed that about 98% of the 17,016 laboratories’ confirmed cases in the region had been discharged, while 1% were still on admission. The study also revealed that COVID-19 vaccines were not proportionally distributed according to the number of confirmed cases in each state. Apart from Kano and Katsina states whose percentages of confirmed cases were almost equal to the percentages of vaccines distributed i.e., 23%-to-28% and 12%-to-14% respectively, other states in the region had received below or above the proportion of confirmed cases they had. For instance, Kaduna state had 53% of confirmed cases in the region only received 24% of vaccines distributed, whereas Zamfara state which had the lowest percentage of confirmed cases (1%) received 7% of vaccines distributed. Major challenges facing COVID-19 within the region were an inadequate number of vaccines to cater to the large population of the people within the region, inadequate testing centers, etc. Most of the testing and vaccination centers were found in the cities and not found in the rural areas. The study concludes with a recommendation that government should make available vaccines in both the urban and rural communities and encourage people to take the vaccines.