尼日利亚，库杰-尤努萨·巴瓦把他的摩托车开出了跑道健康他在尼日利亚首都阿布贾西南的库耶工作的护理诊所，并获得了一盒黑色的新冠肺炎疫苗，以应对未来的艰难旅程。

崎岖不平的小路——巴瓦形容它是一条“会让你累的路”——是他最不担心的。他补充说，武装团伙沿途绑架活动猖獗。

但是，如果这个非洲人口最多的国家要实现在未来两个月内为其2.06亿人口中的5500万人全面接种疫苗的宏伟目标，这样的旅行是必不可少的。

由于omicron变体的出现凸显了为更多人接种疫苗以防止冠状病毒新突变的重要性，尼日利亚也面临着一条艰难的道路:只有378万人完全接种了疫苗。

39岁的巴瓦说，直接去找村民是克服他们在拍照时犹豫不决的一种方法。

“当你在他们家遇到他们时，没有问题，”他补充道。"每个人都会接种(疫苗)."

12月1日，尼日利亚开始要求政府雇员在过去72小时内接种疫苗或显示病毒检测呈阴性。尽管当局强调该国有能力让西方制造疫苗对每个人来说，健康农村地区的护理人员正在挣扎，主要是因为政府资金的延迟。

在阿布贾国际机场附近约有30万人口的城镇库杰的萨博健康中心，巴瓦和三名同事在破旧的建筑里工作，办公室设备破旧不堪。在过去的三个月里，他们中只有两个人从政府那里得到了赔偿，得到了大约10，000尼日利亚奈拉(大约24美元)。

这几乎不足以支付巴瓦的个人摩托车的汽油——“我们用来四处移动并通知他们我们将在特定日期到来的那辆，”他说，一边握着75岁的阿米努·宝多的手，然后给他打了一针。

天气好的时候，他可以去约20个人，但通常是5个人或更少。许多农村居民很穷，大部分时间都在分散在农村的农场度过，而不是在村里的家里。

这对于巴瓦和他的同事来说通常意味着漫长的一天，此外还有暴力风险和等待数周微不足道的赔偿。他说，他不确定下一次政府何时会为他的努力买单，也不确定他的个人财务状况能维持多久。

一位20岁的同事优素福·纳西鲁(Yusuf Nasiru)说，自11月份开始工作以来，他一直没有得到工资或报销费用。

“如果你应该在周末工作，你应该得到报酬，”阿布贾初选执行秘书恩代约·伊沃特博士说卫生保健监督首都疫苗接种的机构。他补充说，政府工作人员外出参加流动团队应该有后勤支持。

尼日利亚西北部和中部的武装组织今年杀害了数百人，绑架了数千人，以寻求赎金。

领导尼日利亚东北部包奇州疫苗接种工作的最高政府官员里勒万努·穆罕默德博士说，在没有受到暴力困扰的地区，延迟向运输和管理疫苗的工人付款仍然是“我们面临的一大挑战”。

穆罕默德说:“直到人们完成工作，他们才会支付这笔钱，从一个地方到另一个地方没有钱，”他指出，他必须自己找到资金来支付工人的费用。

其他人批评政府没有充分资助一场运动，让人们了解冠状病毒和接种疫苗的必要性。

“坦率地说，这里没有人知道任何关于疫苗的事情，”奥莫洛格贝·奥莫洛古瓦说，他住在尼日利亚东北部与乍得接壤的阿达马瓦州。“没人说你应该去拿。事实上，假设(疫情)已经结束了。”

在接受美联社采访时，负责监督疫苗接种计划的尼日利亚国家初级卫生保健发展局执行主任费萨尔·舒艾布博士将此归咎于“计划不周(和)协调不力，导致在确保疫苗真正到达农村地区时遇到困难或挑战。”

在尼日利亚的许多地方，官员们也不得不与对疫苗的怀疑作斗争。尼日利亚是一个宗教色彩浓厚的国家，一些宗教领袖向他们数百万的追随者传播关于病毒和疫苗的错误信息。

除了社交媒体上传播的虚假信息，尼日利亚北部的一些人还记得1996年辉瑞口服抗生素临床试验期间几名儿童死于脑膜炎，导致与制药巨头的法律斗争，为一些家庭赢得了赔偿。

舒艾布说，当局一直在与传统和宗教领袖接触，以便让他们的追随者了解疫苗的真相。

“但显然，一些州仍需要做大量工作，以确保这些疫苗到达社区，”他补充说，并指出尼日利亚手头有3000万剂疫苗，未来几个月还会有更多的疫苗到达。

总部位于阿布贾的咨询集团Gatefield的首席策略师Adewunmi Emoruwa表示，政府应该更加专注于“促进疫苗的安全性和有效性”，而不是对国家雇员实施强制要求。他补充说，如果公务员“确信”疫苗有效，他们会传播关于疫苗的消息。

库杰的免疫官员穆萨·艾哈迈德说，“社会动员还没有进行...这就是为什么有些人仍然怀疑疫苗。”

世界卫生组织非洲区域办事处免疫和疫苗开发项目协调员理查德·米希戈博士说，这使得尼日利亚很大一部分人口没有接种疫苗，面临“非常大”的暴露风险。

Mihigo在一次在线简报会上说:“就像我们给病毒继续在幼稚人群中传播的机会一样，我们也给了病毒变异的机会。

12月1日，尼日利亚疾病控制中心表示，在11月下旬抵达该国的三名旅行者中发现了奥米克龙变异体——这是自南部非洲科学家检测并报告奥米克龙变异体以来，西非第一个记录到该变异体的人。

在与首都地区相邻的卡杜纳州，比鲁斯·麦雅基是另一名冒险将疫苗运送到受暴力困扰的农村社区的医护人员。

“为了支持政府的活动，我们已经投降了(我们的生命)，”41岁的麦雅基在贾马阿接受美联社电话采访时说，他在贾马阿监督疫苗接种。“我们想拯救生命。……我们宣誓为祖国服务。我们只是不畏艰险。”

Armed gangs raise risks in vaccinating rural Nigerians

KUJE, Nigeria -- Yunusa Bawa rolled his motorcycle away from thehealthcare clinic where he works in Kuje, southwest of Nigeria's capital of Abuja, and secured a black box of COVID-19 vaccine for the rough ride ahead.

The rocky and rugged pathway — Bawa described it as a road that “will make you tired” — was the least of his worries. Kidnapping along the route by armed gangs is rampant, he added.

But such trips are essential if Africa's most populous country is to reach its ambitious goal of fully vaccinating 55 million of its 206 million people in the next two months.

As the emergence of the omicron variant underscores the importance of inoculating more people to prevent new mutations of the coronavirus, Nigeria also is facing a difficult path: Only 3.78 million are fully vaccinated.

Going directly to the villagers is one way to overcome any hesitancy they might have in getting the shots, said Bawa, 39.

“When you meet them in their home, there is no problem," he added. "Everybody will take (the vaccine).”

On Dec. 1, Nigeria began requiring government employees to be vaccinated or show a negative test for the virus in the past 72 hours. Although authorities emphasize the country is capable of getting the Western-manufacturedvaccinesto everyone,healthcare workers in rural areas are struggling, mostly because of delayed government funding.

At the Sabo health center in Kuje, a town of about 300,000 people near Abuja's international airport, Bawa and three colleagues work in dilapidated buildings with worn-out office equipment. In the past three months, only two of them have received compensation from the government, getting about 10,000 Nigerian naira (about $24).

That's barely enough to cover the gas for Bawa's personal motorcycle — "the one we are using to move around and inform them that we are coming on specific dates,” he said as he held the hand of 75-year-old Aminu Baodo before giving him a shot.

On a good day, he can get to about 20 people, but usually it is five or fewer. Many rural residents are poor and spend most of their time on farms scattered across the countryside, rather than in their homes in the village.

That often means a long day for Bawa and his coworkers, in addition to the risk of violence and waiting weeks for paltry compensation. He said he is unsure when he'll next be paid by the government for his efforts or how long his personal finances will hold out.

A 20-year-old colleague, Yusuf Nasiru, said he hasn't been paid or reimbursed for expenses since starting the job in November.

“If you should work on weekends, you should be paid," said Dr. Ndaeyo Iwot, executive secretary of Abuja's primaryhealth careagency, which oversees vaccinations in the capital. He added that government workers who go out on mobile teams should have logistical support.

Armed groups in northwestern and central parts of Nigeria have killed hundreds of people this year and kidnapped thousands, seeking ransoms.

In areas not beset by violence, delayed payments to workers who transport and administer the vaccine remains “a big challenge for us,” said Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed, the top government official leading vaccination efforts in Bauchi state in Nigeria's northeast.

“They won’t pay the money until when the people have finished the work, and there is no money for movement from one point to another,” Mohammed said, noting that he had to find funds himself to pay workers' expenses.

Others criticize the government for not adequately funding a campaign to inform people about the coronavirus and the need for vaccination.

“Nobody around here knows anything about the vaccine to be frank,” said Omorogbe Omorogiuwa, who lives in Adamawa state, which borders the country of Chad in northeastern Nigeria. “Nobody is saying you should go and take it. In fact, it is assumed that (the pandemic) is over.”

In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, executive director of Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency that oversees the vaccination program, blamed “poor planning (and) poor coordination that results in difficulties or challenges in making sure that the vaccines actually get to rural areas.”

Officials also have to battle skepticism about the vaccine in many parts of Nigeria, a deeply religious country where some religious leaders spread misinformation about the virus and the vaccine to their millions of followers.

In addition to false information spread on social media, some in northern Nigeria remember the 1996 deaths of several children from meningitis during a Pfizer clinical trial for an oral antibiotic, resulting in a legal battle with the pharmaceutical giant that won payouts for some families.

Authorities have been engaging with traditional and religious leaders to get the truth about the vaccine to their followers, Shuaib said.

“But clearly, a lot of work still needs to be done by some states in ensuring that these vaccines get to the communities,” he added, noting that Nigeria has 30 million doses on hand, with many more arriving in the coming months.

Adewunmi Emoruwa, the lead strategist at Gatefield, an Abuja-based consultancy group, said the government should be more focused on “promoting vaccine safety and efficacy,” rather than implementing a mandate for state employees. Public servants will spread the word about the vaccine if they are “convinced” it will work, he added.

Musa Ahmed, an immunization officer in Kuje, said “social mobilization has not been taken place ... and that is (why) some people are still doubting the vaccine.”

That has left a large part of Nigeria's population unvaccinated and at “very great” risk of exposure, said Dr. Richard Mihigo, immunization and vaccines development program coordinator for the World Health Organization's Africa regional office.

“As much as we give the opportunity to the virus to continue to circulate in a naive population, we give the virus the opportunity to mutate,” Mihigo said in an online briefing.

On Dec. 1, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control said the omicron variant was found in three travelers who arrived in the country late November — the first in West Africa to have recorded the omicron variant since scientists in southern Africa detected and reported it.

In Kaduna state, which neighbors the capital region, Bitrus Maiyaki is another health care worker taking the risk to carry vaccines to rural communities beset by violence.

“In order to support the activities of the government, we have surrendered (our lives),” Maiyaki, 41, told AP in a telephone interview from Jama'a, where he oversees vaccinations. “And we want to save lives. … We have taken an oath to serve our fatherland. We just take the bull by the horns.”