Since the first AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) was injected into the arm of a Nigerian in March 2021, millions of doses of the vaccine have been administered across the country.
As of January 6, 59.1 million people have been fully vaccinated in Africa’s most populous country, with the hope that the worst effects of the pandemic will be over. More than 12 million people have been partially vaccinated, according to records from National Primary Health Development Agency (NPHCDA).
NPHCDA said that 55.2 percent of the total eligible population targeted for COVID-19 vaccination has been fully vaccinated. In the same vein, 9.3 million people have taken the booster vaccine across the country.
Since the start of the pandemic, the toughest decisions on how to fight the virus have rested with health officials and country leaders. The government, through the NPHCDA, with the support of partners, is implementing a strategy to ensure that all eligible Nigerians have access to the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The war against COVID-19 is not over,” said Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of NPHCDA, on Monday. “Three years after the coronavirus appeared, a new variant, XBB.1.5 quickly became the dominant strain in parts of the United States and has been detected in at least 28 other countries.”
“That is why we are asking Nigerians to take a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Just like the flu vaccine, the COVID-19 vaccine has become a routine vaccine that helps protect us from this deadly virus,” Mr. Shuaib said.
Before the new variant arrived, the NPHCDA used an integrated approach (SCALE 3.0) that combined the COVID-19 vaccination with the Non-Polio supplementary immunization activity campaign (NPSIA), Routine Immunization (RI) services and Vit A supplementation.
“This SCALE 3.0 approach is guiding the scale-up of the COVID-19 vaccine across the country,” said Chika Offor, Chief Executive Officer of the Vaccine Network. “The number has increased because of this integrated approach,” he told PREMIUM TIMES, calling on the government to increase awareness of the vaccine in all areas.
Vaccination gaps between countries have narrowed, but major differences remain, reflecting that some countries have done better than others.
The top five states are Jigawa; Nasarawa; Kaduna; Osun and Kano states. These countries have met the target of 100 percent of the population for the vaccination of COVID-19.
In addition, no less than 10 states (Adamawa, Gombe, Kwara, Plateau, Ekiti, Sokoto, Kebbi, Yobe, Zamfara, and Imo) have reached 50 percent of the eligible population.
Other states across the country including the FCT have vaccinated between 13 and 46 percent of their targeted population.
Countries with the highest vaccination rates
Kano, the country’s second most populous state, has fully vaccinated its 7.8 million eligible population. Data published by NPHCDA shows that more than 3 million people in the country are partially vaccinated. About 1.4 million people have also received booster doses of the vaccine, placing Kano among the top five in the country.
This was followed by Jigawa with 5 million people fully vaccinated. Ondo is behind with 3.4 million; Adamawa with 2.4 million; and Kali with 2.2 million.
Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous state and the epicenter of the virus, has only vaccinated 2.1 million eligible groups.
On the other side are Oyo and Osun with 2.08 and 2.07 million fully vaccinated populations respectively. Katsina is behind with 1.96 million; Kwara, 1.94 million; Kaduna, 1.86 million; Yobe, 1.67 million; and Zamfara 1.67 million.
low performance countries
Bayelsa with about 2.5 million people is the state with the least vaccinated population at 194,058. It was followed by Ebonyi with 251,923; Kebbi with 368,036; Ogun with 393,630; and Sokoto with 397,109.
The fully vaccinated population in Plateau is 529,345, Akwa Ibom 530,893, Delta 591,819, and Edo 634,045.
Regarding the countries with poor performance, Ms Offor, the official of the Vaccine Network, noted that this has to do with human behavior.
“There are some people who don’t believe in the vaccine,” he said. “It’s not necessarily that he doesn’t want to take it, but he’s not going to take the means to take it.”
For this, he said the government should adopt a strategy to take the vaccine campaign to the doorstep. “People are very upset about this, some will say they can’t afford the transport to get the vaccine, but if you take it to your doorstep, they will collect it.”
“That’s why all hands must be on deck, we must not give up,” Ms Offor said. “We must continue to create awareness to improve vaccine performance, especially in the lower states.”
Vaccination by geopolitical zone
As of January 6, 18.7 million people had been fully vaccinated in the northwest, making it the region with the most vaccinated population. Data shows that more than 5.3 million people are partially vaccinated in the region
In the southwest, there are 11.6 million of the population eligible for vaccination, while 1.58 million have been partially vaccinated.
More than 10 million people in northeastern Nigeria have been fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, 7.8 million people in the north-central part of the country have received full vaccination, while about 1.9 million people have been partially vaccinated.
Apart from Imo, none of the states in the south-east and south-south have vaccinated half of their eligible population. While 5.1 million people have received two doses of the vaccine in the South-South, only 4.5 million people have received the full vaccine in the South-East.
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About 700,000 people were partially vaccinated in the southeast and more than 1 million people in the south-south.
In Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, 788,036 people have been fully vaccinated and 200,121 people have been partially vaccinated.
(This report was produced with the support of the Center for Democracy and Development).
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