Faisal Kamil, Alshammari Sultanah, Alotaibi Reem, Alhothali Areej, Bamasag Omaimah, Alghanmi Nusaybah, Bin Yamin Manal
Geomatics Department, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 16;19(6):3526. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063526.
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most devastating public health emergencies in history. In late 2020 and after almost a year from the initial outbreak of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), several vaccines were approved and administered in most countries. Saudi Arabia has established COVID-19 vaccination centers in all regions. Various facilities were selected to set up these vaccination centers, including conference and exhibition centers, old airport terminals, pre-existing medical facilities, and primary healthcare centers. Deciding the number and locations of these facilities is a fundamental objective for successful epidemic responses to ensure the delivery of vaccines and other health services to the entire population. This study analyzed the spatial distribution of COVID-19 vaccination centers in Jeddah, a major city in Saudi Arabia, by using GIS tools and methods to provide insight on the effectiveness of the selection and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccination centers in terms of accessibility and coverage. Based on a spatial analysis of vaccine centers' coverage in 2020 and 2021 in Jeddah presented in this study, coverage deficiency would have been addressed earlier if the applied GIS analysis methods had been used by authorities while gradually increasing the number of vaccination centers. This study recommends that the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia evaluated the assigned vaccination centers to include the less-populated regions and to ensure equity and fairness in vaccine distribution. Adding more vaccine centers or reallocating some existing centers in the denser districts to increase the coverage in the uncovered sparse regions in Jeddah is also recommended. The methods applied in this study could be part of a strategic vaccination administration program for future public health emergencies and other vaccination campaigns.
新冠疫情是历史上最具毁灭性的突发公共卫生事件之一。2020年末，在新型冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）首次爆发近一年后，多数国家批准并接种了几种疫苗。沙特阿拉伯在所有地区都设立了新冠疫苗接种中心。设立这些接种中心时选用了各种设施，包括会议展览中心、旧机场航站楼、既有医疗设施和基层医疗中心。确定这些设施的数量和地点是成功应对疫情的一项基本目标，以确保向全体民众提供疫苗及其他卫生服务。本研究利用地理信息系统（GIS）工具和方法分析了沙特阿拉伯主要城市吉达的新冠疫苗接种中心的空间分布情况，以便从可及性和覆盖范围方面深入了解新冠疫苗接种中心的选址和分布效果。基于本研究中对吉达2020年和2021年疫苗接种中心覆盖范围的空间分析，如果当局在逐步增加接种中心数量的同时使用所应用的GIS分析方法，覆盖不足问题本可更早得到解决。本研究建议沙特阿拉伯卫生部评估已分配的疫苗接种中心，将人口较少的地区纳入其中，并确保疫苗分配的公平公正。还建议增加更多疫苗接种中心，或在人口密集地区重新分配一些现有中心，以扩大吉达未覆盖的稀疏地区的覆盖范围。本研究中应用的方法可成为未来突发公共卫生事件及其他疫苗接种活动战略疫苗接种管理计划的一部分。
