Spatial Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccine Centers Distribution: A Case Study of the City of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

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.

A Spatial Model of the Social Vulnerability Index for Vaccine COVID-19 in Java, Indonesia

“…Besides that, these districts/cities do not have a shortage in general. This will improve the health status of the community for the better because of access to health services that are getting better (Faisal et al, 2022;Mollalo & Tatar, 2021).…”

“…The existence of disparities related to socioeconomic status, household composition, and disability, especially in provinces with many districts/cities, will continue to increase. Access to COVID-19 vaccines will require focused efforts on increasing coverage in high SVI countries and adapting to local population needs, for example, by adding vaccine centers or relocating existing vaccine centers in densely populated districts/cities to increase coverage (Faisal et al, 2022). Furthermore, efforts could include walk-in vaccination clinics and public health messages about the importance of vaccination and the need for community intervention to help promote health (Barry et al, 2021;Harapan et al, 2020;Mofleh et al, 2022)…”

“…The dependent variable in this study is the COVID-19 vaccine in each district and city in the form of percentage coverage of the second vaccine in each province. District-level indicators associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitation (second dose) were selected based on previous research on contributing factors (Faisal et al, 2022;Lee & Huang, 2022) using an approach from the SVI-CDC and COVID-19 case variables. The theory presented by SVI-CDC is socioeconomic status, household composition and disability, minority status and language, housing type, and transportation (Flanagan et al, 2011).…”

“…Vigilance against COVID-19 is a concern for all affected countries due to its rapid and massive spread. COVID-19 is a highly contagious and pathogenic viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in Wuhan, China, and spread worldwide (Babu et al, 2021;Eryando et al, 2020;Faisal et al, 2022).…”

Location-Allocation Model to Improve the Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccine Centers in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia

“…The model was applied to two cities in Turkey. Faisal et al [ 60 ] presented a spatial analysis of COVID-19 centers in Jeddah city using kernel density estimation, incremental spatial autocorrelation, and hotspot analysis based on the population distribution and districts map. In this research, we assess the accessibility of COVID-19 vaccination centers using location-allocation maximal coverage under different capacity and access constraints and assumptions.…”