Assessment of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among people living with HIV/AIDS: a single-centered study

Introduction: as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are distributed and administered globally, hesitancy towards the vaccine hinders the immunisation of a significant number of vulnerable populations, such as people living with HIV/AIDS. Hence, this study aims to assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) attending clinical-outpatient follow-up at State Specialist Hospital Maiduguri (SSHM), Borno State, Nigeria. Methods: a hospital-based cross-sectional study design was conducted to assess COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among 344 PLHIV receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at the United States President´s Emergency Plan for AIDS (PEPFAR) clinic in SSHM from 4th January to 25th February 2022. Data were collected using a structured and pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire. The results were presented using frequencies and percentages. The factors that are associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy were identified using the Chi-square statistical test. Results: among the 344 respondents of the study, only 88 (26.6%) received the COVID-19 vaccine. Out of the 256 respondents that did not receive the vaccine, only 10.5% (27/256) are willing to be vaccinated, while the majority; 57.8% (148/256) are not willing to be vaccinated and 31.7% (81/256) of the respondents are uncertain, thus resulting in a hesitation rate of 89.45%. There was no statistically significant association between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and the study´s independent variables; where p-value is greater than 0.05. Conclusion: hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccine is high among PLHIV and there is no any statistically significant association between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and the independent variables of the study where p-value is greater than 0.05. Hence, it is necessary to develop targeted strategies to boost vaccine uptake among this vulnerable population

Monkeypox: Is the world ready for another pandemic?

As the world continues to endure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, an outbreak of Monkeypox occurs and continues to spread unabatedly. The double-stranded DNA monkeypox virus is a sylvatic zoonosis, which occasionally infects humans and is a member of the genus Orthopoxviruses. Although scientists believed the virus to have low transmissibility, the speed and degree with which it spreads is alarming and could land one in a hospital or even kill one. Additionally, the fact that unusual transmissions are occurring among people without travel history to endemic regions suggests undetected transmissions, raising concerns about our preparedness for another pandemic. Contrary to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a vaccine that could offer some protection against the monkeypox virus. Therefore, there is a need for coordinated efforts among authorities concerned and community-based organizations to raise awareness of the potential pandemic of monkeypox, activate surveillance systems and laboratory capacity, and heighten contact tracing and vaccination of at-risk individuals to stem the outbreak while there is still the opportunity to prevent it from becoming a pandemic

Fighting COVID-19 in The Gambia: Efforts, Challenges, and way Forward

On March 11, 2020, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic of global magnitude. Since then, nations have instituted response measures to curtail the rapid spread and propagation of the virus. This Letter to the Editor provides a brief assessment of the measures and challenges facing The Gambia’s COVID-19 response and suggests some policy and practical recommendations that can be used by policymakers and implementers to address the COVID-19 situation in The Gambia. It is based on a narrative review of existing literature on the COVID-19 response in The Gambia, as well as on the authors’ opinion as researchers supporting the COVID-19 response efforts in The Gambia

Impact of Nyiragongo volcanic eruptions on the resilience to the COVID-19 and Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

For decades, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been vulnerable to disasters. The most dangerous Nyiragongo volcanic eruption posed a threat to the country, particularly the city of Goma. The explosions on 22 May 2021 caused unfathomable damages, with loss of lives, properties, and the destruction of homes, displacing thousands of people, with thousands of children being left vulnerable as a result. Furthermore, it charred health and school infrastructures and decimated crops, an issue in the population where the COVID-19 has exacerbated the existing fragile health system. Importantly, these eruptions posed a challenge when DRC struggled to end COVID-19 and Ebola through surveillance, preventive measures, and vaccination. It is doubtless that priorities of the emergency have interrupted the surveillance system, thus increasing exposure to the COVID-19 and Ebola transmission. It is critical to provide basic needs to victims of the Nyiragongo volcanic eruptions in the aftermath of such a disaster. Local and global humanitarian organizations are needed to assist residents in relocating. Furthermore, appropriate and adjusted mitigation strategies will significantly prevent Ebola, COVID-19, and other infectious diseases. In this paper, we discuss the impacts of the volcanic eruption on population health and Ebola preparedness and response in the context of the global COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic: Vaccination challenges in Sudan.

The first COVID-19 case in Sudan was announced on March 13th, 2020. 1835 deaths were recorded as of February 7th, 2021. 800,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were allocated to Sudan through COVAX in March 2021. However, multiple challenges exist in vaccinating the Sudanese population, ranging from an inadequate cold chain system to low acceptance rates of COVID-19 vaccination among the Sudanese population. Economic crises, high inflation rates and long-standing economic sanctions have also negatively impacted the healthcare system in Sudan as a result of deprivation of access to research and development funding

Achieving COVID‐19 herd immunity in Rwanda, Africa

Abstract The COVID‐19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to global healthcare systems, including Rwanda's. Rwanda has taken measured actions in response to the pandemic using a multisectoral and one‐government approach. The introduction of the COVID‐19 vaccine boosted the hope of many people but has left debates on the measure of the population required to attain herd immunity. Herd immunity threshold (HIT) was introduced to track progress toward containing COVID‐19. HIT represents the number of people with long‐term immunity from COVID‐19. World Health Organization (WHO) established population vaccination targets for all countries worldwide, which included 40% coverage of the entire population by the end of 2021 and 70% by June 2022. In this paper, we discussed the efforts and progress that have been made so far toward achieving herd immunity in Rwanda

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