Global estimates of the fitness advantage of SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron.

ABSTRACT: New variants of SARS-CoV-2 show remarkable heterogeneity in their relative fitness both over time and space. In this paper we extend a previously published model for estimating the selection strength for new SARS-CoV-2 variants to a hierarchical, mixed-effects, renewal equation model. This formulation allows us to globally estimate selection effects at different spatial levels while controlling for complex patterns of transmission and jointly inferring the effects of unit-level covariates in the spatial heterogeneity of SARS-CoV-2 selection effects. Applying this model to the spread of Omicron in 40 counties finding evidence for very strong (64%) but very heterogeneous selection effects at the country level. We further considered different measures of vaccination levels and measures of rec

SUBMITTER: van Dorp C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9216718 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature