In response to the need for improved community-level engagement in Nigeria’s COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, Sydani collaborated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to implement the “Improving Community Awareness on COVID-19 Vaccinations (ICACV)” project.
The aim was to create a stronger link between the COVID-19 Technical Working Group (COVAX TWG) and the Community Demand Creation Technical Working Group (CDD TWG) and use existing health structures to raise awareness and increase vaccine uptake.
The project, funded by BMGF and implemented from July 2021 to December 2022, was piloted in Yobe and Ebonyi states, focusing on leveraging Nigeria’s existing Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) structure to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
Strategy Design & Implementation:
Sydani, in partnership with BMGF, developed and piloted a strategy to demonstrate how the NTD structure could be repurposed to support other health interventions like COVID-19 vaccinations. Specifically, Community Drug Distributors (CDDs), typically engaged in NTD programs, were deployed in three LGAs in each state (Nangere, Yunusari, and Machina in Yobe, and Ezza South, Ivo, and Ebonyi in Ebonyi) to sensitize community members about COVID-19 vaccinations and refer them to nearby health facilities for immunization.
A total of 1,161 CDDs were mobilized—785 in Yobe and 376 in Ebonyi. These distributors reached 63% of the targeted communities, engaging 57,273 individuals across the six LGAs.
Sensitization efforts were primarily focused on raising awareness about the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine and addressing the barriers to vaccination, such as the inconvenience of distant vaccination sites.
Result: The project yielded significant results, notably a 50% increase in vaccination coverage in the focal LGAs following the pilot. Of the 57,273 people sensitized, 54% were women, and 64% of those reached were unvaccinated at the time of visit, with a higher proportion of unvaccinated individuals in Ebonyi State.
The key barrier cited for non-vaccination was the inconvenience of distant vaccination sites. Through the efforts of the CDDs, 32,979 people were referred to health facilities for vaccination, showcasing the effectiveness of leveraging the NTD structure for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.
The successful strengthening of the CDD TWG at the national level also paved the way for future collaborations between NPHCDA and the COVID-19 working groups.
