COVID‐19 vaccine wastage: A challenge to achieving herd immunity in Nigeria

Abstract

The emergence of the COVID‐19 pandemic has overburdened many health‐care systems in the world, particularly in Nigeria and other African countries with fragile public health system. Since the emergence of the pandemic, Nigeria has been struggling to restore the impact on its health‐care system as the country keeps recording a growing number of cases and deaths. Vaccination has been the most efficient strategy towards curbing the COVID‐19 pandemic, particularly in countries like Nigeria where preventive measures were poorly strategised or implemented. The country was able to secure some doses of the COVID‐19 vaccine through donations, but concerns have been raised as up to 1 million doses of the vaccine were wasted due to delays in importations and poor cold chain management system. This wastage can pose a challenge to achieving COVID‐19 herd immunity in Nigeria. The causative factors of the vaccine wastage in Nigeria must therefore be tackled in order to effectively curb the COVID‐19 outbreak and consequently achieve herd immunity through massive vaccination. The government in collaboration with World Health Organisation and Africa Centre for Disease Control should facilitate and fast track the safe delivery of the vaccines to Nigeria. Misconceptions about COVID‐19 and its vaccine should be tackled to encourage the vaccine acceptance. The challenges faced by the vaccine supply chain system should be properly addressed by providing adequate funding and security, improved power supply, good vaccine infrastructure and improved vaccine data management in order to facilitate the safe and timely distribution of adequate vaccines across the country.