Post-Vaccine Spatial Patterns and Associated Risk Factors of COVID-19 Infections, Recoveries and Deaths in West Africa

Abstract

COVID-19, declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization in March 2020, came to an end on May 5, 2023. The pandemic affected every part of the world including West Africa. Previous studies on this subregion examined the distribution and drivers of COVID-19 with a view to identifying its epicentres during the first wave of the pandemic long before a COVID-19 vaccine was found. After several rollouts, questions on the post vaccine spatial patterns of the pandemic and the degree to which vaccination influenced morbidity and mortality outcomes surfaced. The focus of this paper therefore was to examine the spatial patterns and associated risk factors of COVID-19 infections, recoveries and deaths in the post vaccine period. The study relied on public data sources. Pearson Correlation and Stepwise regression method were used to identify the drivers of the spatial patterns. Findings show that Nigeria and Cape Verde were the pandemic’s hotspots in West Africa. In addition, population size, elderly population, air traffic, access to WASH, and some socioeconomic indicators were significant in the explanation of the spatial patterns of the disease. In conclusion, the geography of the pandemic in West Africa did not significantly change on account of vaccination.