Abstract

Background: In response to COVID-19 worldwide catastrophe, vaccination became the golden choice of virus control. With the help of international donors, Afghanistan started the administration of COVID-19 vaccines for eleven at-risk categories back in February 2021. This study aims to provide basic descriptive of vaccination epidemiological status as well as deployment of vaccine to at-risk categories in Afghanistan.
Methods: A descriptive study was conducted to analyze secondary data from the District Health Information System-2 (DHIS2) at national level in Ministry of Public Health. That is a database developed and launched after COVID-19 pandemic. The immunization status at provincial level and gender-based data are analyzed in this study.
Results: A total of 4,855,683 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administrated in 2021 of which 10% of the total population were fully vaccinated and 11% has received at least one dose of vaccine. The highest coverage of this vaccine is observed (28%) and (12%) for Kabul (central region) and Herat (west region) provinces respectively. Totally 54% males and 46% females received the COVID-19 vaccines in 2021. The highest coverage was reported in the elderly group (18-50 years) which were 2,608,4068 people. Of all doses 925,656 (19%) were Covishield, 677,656 (14%) were Sinopharm and 3,252,851 (67%) were Janssen & Janssen vaccines. Vaccine coverage differed among target/at risk categories.
Conclusion: Vaccine coverage for at least one at-risk category (older than 50 years) is lower than expected with higher interest to one-dose regimen vaccine. The low coverage shows low demand for vaccine uptake. Although the results are not inclusive, still the demand for interventions to improve public awareness about COVID-19 is much needed. Furthermore, advocacy for full vaccination is required.

Keywords:Covid; Vaccine; Coverage; Immunization