COVID-19: More than two million teens already vaccinated in Nigeria — Shuaib, Executive Director of NPHDA

Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaibthrough this interview SADE OGUNTOLAtalks about COVID-19 vaccination coverage, COVID-19 milestones achieved and challenges to increasing vaccination coverage.

WHAT are some indicators that COVID-19 is not over in Nigeria?

In the past week, 25 confirmed new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country. There is also a report of an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in China, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, among others. The Federal Government of Nigeria is committed to ensuring that the eligible population is fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccines to achieve the necessary herd immunity for protection against the disease. Vaccines remain the most cost-effective public health tool against vaccine-preventable diseases.

The last meeting of the COVID-19 strategy team provided an update on underperforming states on vaccination. Which states are these and what were their restrictions?

The country’s goal is to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the eligible population with the COVID-19 vaccine. As of January 20, 2023, Nigeria has fully vaccinated 65,143,040 (56 percent) eligible persons with the vaccine; while 76,957,026 (66.4 percent) eligible individuals took at least one dose of the vaccine.

Thirteen states have reached 70 percent and above full vaccination of their eligible populations. These include: Nasarawa, Jigawa, Kaduna, Osun, Kano, Adamawa, Gombe, Plateau, Kwara, Ekiti, Sokoto, Kebbi and Yobe states. Seven states (Zamfara, Imo, Oyo, Borno, Niger, Enugu, Bauchi) plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have reached between 40 and 70 percent coverage. The remaining 16 underperforming states with coverage below 40 percent are: Katsina, Cross River, Ogun, Abia, Anambra, Benue, Edo, Lagos, Taraba, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Kogi, Rivers, and Ondo- states . The last seven states have less than 20 percent full vaccination coverage.

The current major challenge associated with low coverage in some states is the “no perceived need” for the COVID-19 vaccination among citizens. Other challenges include vaccine hesitancy due to the misinformation and disinformation surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines; and the prevailing insecurity across the country, preventing health workers from providing health care, including vaccination.

Based on your agency’s experience, what are the specific challenges driving the low COVID-19 vaccination rate?

The major challenge at the beginning of the introduction of COVID-19 was that of global scarcity and inequality in access to the COVID-19 vaccines. This has since been overcome as we now have enough COVID-19 vaccines in the country to cover the eligible population.

Other additional specific challenges observed in the underperforming states such as Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Kogi were the suspension of the vaccination exercise for about two months due to some technical issues; but these challenges have now been addressed. The agency, in conjunction with other partners, is providing technical support to these very underperforming states and an improvement is expected within the next few weeks.

Based on the latest COVID-19 vaccination update for Nigeria, how has the Scale 3.0 implementation further helped to increase vaccination rates?

Since March 5, 2020, several indigenous and innovative strategies have been deployed for the COVID-19 vaccination exercise in the country. From phases 1 and 2 and SCALES 1.0, where the TEACH strategy was used, to the SCALES 2.0 strategy and now SCALES 3.0. Yes, it is true that SCALES 3.0’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy has further contributed to the increase in COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the country.

A total of 25,963,167 subjects were fully vaccinated during the Phase 1, Phase 2, and SCALES 1.0 vaccination exercise; and an additional 35,794,075 individuals were fully vaccinated during the SCALES 2.0 which lasted 674 days. As of January 20, 2023, an additional 47,839,574 individuals were fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines during the SCALES 3.0 vaccination course, which has lasted only 163 days so far. There has been an improvement from 26 percent fully vaccinated at the end of the SCALES 2.0 vaccination to 56.2 percent fully vaccinated during the SCALES 3.0 vaccination (as of today, January 20, 2023).

In other words, with the implementation of the SCALES 3.0 strategy alone, approximately 30% additional eligible individuals were fully vaccinated within five and a half months. This is a huge improvement and achievement when compared to what has been achieved previously by the country and what has been done in many other African countries.

Ebola, Lassa fever and even COVID-19 have all made people more aware of the need for epidemic preparedness. Are there other vaccines, interventions or strategies that Nigerians should know about and apply to be better prepared for a possible epidemic in Nigeria?

There are vaccines and interventions that Nigerians should know about and apply in order to be better prepared for any epidemic that may arise in the country in the future. For example, the COVID-19 vaccine is currently available for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Routine immunization vaccines are also available for children under one year of age to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases. All vaccines used for immunization programs in the country are very safe and effective.

Families, businesses, healthcare facilities and government organizations can prepare for disasters and various types of public health emergencies. CDC has updated pre-pandemic planning guidelines for community mitigation strategies that can be used to plan and prepare for a flu pandemic and other emergencies.

The pandemic has provided an opportunity to strengthen the health system by leveraging available resources for COVID-19 response. That is currently the policy of the province. The agency is currently championing this policy through ongoing integrated COVID-19 vaccination with routine immunization and other PHC services.

As part of the federal government’s efforts to ensure the country is well prepared for the future pandemic, President Muhammadu Buhari recently announced that Nigeria was poised to become a global hub for sustainable production and distribution of vaccines and other biologics after the country was selected alongside five other African countries by the WHO and the European Union (EU) at the latest EU-African summit in Brussels, Belgium for mRNA technology transfer and Global Training Hub for vaccine bioproduction on the African continent . These efforts, among many others, are steps in the right direction to prepare the country and the African continent for the future pandemic.

Can you provide an update on the number of children who have received doses since rotavirus vaccination was flagged?

The launch of phase one (1) of the rotavirus vaccine in northern nineteen (19) took place in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on August 22, 2022; and the launch of Phase Two (2) in the Seventeen (17) Southern States took place in Edo State on November 21, 2022.

As of December 31, 2022, a total of 5,221,807 children nationwide have received the rotavirus vaccine. A total of 4,062,288 children have been vaccinated so far from the 19 northern states, with the remaining 1,159,519 children coming from the 17 southern states starting in November 2022.

The Federal Government, through NPHCDA, has granted an exemption for individuals ages 16 and 17 to receive COVID-19 if needed for educational purposes. So can you give an idea of ​​how many Nigerians in the age range have come out to benefit from the vaccination?

Since its inception in 2020, a total of 2,299,395 children aged 16 – 17 have received COVID-19 vaccines, exempting that age group for educational purposes.

Can you specify some of Nigeria’s COVID-19 vaccination milestones?

From the start, the country had a goal of reaching 70 percent of the eligible population with COVID-19 vaccines by the end of December 2022. As of December 31, 2022, 67.6 percent of the eligible population (75,585,197 individuals) had been reached with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines; and 56.4 percent were fully vaccinated. This is an incredible achievement compared to what other African countries have been able to achieve in the same period. COVID-19 vaccination is integrated with routine immunization and other PHC services. COVID-19 vaccination data is captured on the Electronic Immunization Data Management (EMID) platform; and is now being expanded to record routine immunization services.

The PHC Traditional Leaders Committee has also been inaugurated in the Southeast and Southwest Zones, alongside the existing PHC Northern Traditional Committee. The process of establishing the South-South Traditional Committee is well advanced.

What is NPHCDA currently doing to address the rise in diphtheria cases across the country?

The agency is working with the Kano State team and other stakeholders to address the state’s ongoing diphtheria outbreak. Specific priority actions taken by the agency to date include the following collaborations with the NCDC and other stakeholders to conduct case research in the affected states/LGAs, as well as providing technical support in collaboration with other stakeholders for conducting integrated COVID -19 and routine immunization in Kano, Lagos and other high-risk states to address the ongoing diphtheria outbreak in these states.

The agency plans to conduct a mass vaccination campaign in the identified population at risk for diphtheria in the high-risk states with a prevailing vaccine and other routine immunization antigens. There is also ongoing public awareness and sensitization for parents and carers to take their eligible children for routine immunization at the nearest health facility or vaccination site. Also, treatment of confirmed cases of diphtheria with appropriate antibiotics is ongoing in affected states.