The evaluation of COVID-19 vaccination program in Duhok province, Iraqi Kurdistan: challenges and solutions

The aim of this review is to evaluate the COVID-19 vaccination program in Duhok, determining negative and positive points, subsequently improving it. In Duhok,, across the 59 mass vaccination centers, vaccination coverage rates were investigated for all population aged  ≥ 18 years and population aged ≥ 12 years receiving the three available vaccines, namely: Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer by the end of year 2021.By the end of December 2021, the total number of vaccine doses provided was 621,430, of whom 72.92% were Pfizer receivers. At the end of 2021, 35.92% of people aged ≥ 18 years were vaccinated with at least one dose; whereas, the rate was reduced to 25.15% after including people aged ≥ 12 years. Notably, this rate is higher among Health Care Workers (HCWs), showing that 9,474 (60%) of 12,000 of HCWs were vaccinated with at least one dose. COVID-19 vaccination education highlights its importance in the disease prevention and attenuation. Although, the average vaccination coverage in Duhok is better than other cities of Iraq, it remains below the WHO standard; hence urgent action is indicated to increase the coverage rate and to expand the vaccines into including 5-11 years old. The coverage rate among HCWs is fairly good in Duhok province. Furthermore, it is important to strengthen the vaccination program in Duhok through improving staff experience, implementing infection preventive measures, and improving the registration system.