Influence of heterogeneous age-group contact patterns on critical vaccination rates for herd immunity to SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT: Currently, several western countries have more than half of their population fully vaccinated against COVID-19. At the same time, some of them are experiencing a fourth or even a fifth wave of cases, most of them concentrated in sectors of the populations whose vaccination coverage is lower than the average. So, the initial scenario of vaccine prioritization has given way to a new one where achieving herd immunity is the primary concern. Using an age-structured vaccination model with waning immunity, we show that, under a limited supply of vaccines, a vaccination strategy based on minimizing the basic reproduction number allows for the deployment of a number of vaccine doses lower than the one required for maximizing the vaccination coverage. Such minimization is achieved by giving greater

SUBMITTER: Saldana J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8850460 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature