Spatial Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccination: A Scoping Review

Abolfazl Mollalo, Alireza Mohammadi, Sara Mavaddati and Behzad Kiani
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Abolfazl Mollalo: Department of Public Health and Prevention Science, School of Health Sciences, Baldwin Wallace University, Berea, OH 44017, USA
Alireza Mohammadi: Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil 56199, Iran
Sara Mavaddati: Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, Policlinic University Hospital of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124 Bari, Italy
Behzad Kiani: Department of Medical Informatics, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad 91779, Iran

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-14

Abstract: Spatial analysis of COVID-19 vaccination research is increasing in recent literature due to the availability of COVID-19 vaccination data that usually contain location components. However, to our knowledge, no previous study has provided a comprehensive review of this research area. Therefore, in this scoping review, we examined the breadth of spatial and spatiotemporal vaccination studies to summarize previous findings, highlight research gaps, and provide guidelines for future research. We performed this review according to the five-stage methodological framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley. We screened all articles published in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, as of 21 September 2021, that had employed at least one form of spatial analysis of COVID-19 vaccination. In total, 36 articles met the inclusion criteria and were organized into four main themes: disease surveillance (n = 35); risk analysis (n = 14); health access (n = 16); and community health profiling (n = 2). Our findings suggested that most studies utilized preliminary spatial analysis techniques, such as disease mapping, which might not lead to robust inferences. Moreover, few studies addressed data quality, modifiable areal unit problems, and spatial dependence, highlighting the need for more sophisticated spatial and spatiotemporal analysis techniques.

Keywords: COVID-19; GIS; spatial analysis; scoping review; vaccination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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