The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variants
Abstract During a pandemic, vaccination plays an important role in reducing the infection spread or adverse outcomes such as hospitalizations and deaths. However, a vaccine’s overall public health impact depends not only on its initial efficacy, but also its efficacy against emerging variants and ea...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11060-8 |
| _version_ | 1811306262924623872 |
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| author | Daniel Kim Pınar Keskinocak Pelin Pekgün İnci Yildirim |
| author_facet | Daniel Kim Pınar Keskinocak Pelin Pekgün İnci Yildirim |
| author_sort | Daniel Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract During a pandemic, vaccination plays an important role in reducing the infection spread or adverse outcomes such as hospitalizations and deaths. However, a vaccine’s overall public health impact depends not only on its initial efficacy, but also its efficacy against emerging variants and ease and speed of distribution. For example, mutations in SARS-CoV-2 raised concerns about diminishing vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 caused by particular variants. Furthermore, due to supply-chain challenges, the accessibility and distribution of the vaccines have been hindered in many regions, especially in low-income countries, while the second or third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has occurred due to the variants. Hence, we evaluated the interactions between the speed of distribution and efficacy against infection of multiple vaccines when variants emerge by utilizing a Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Deceased model and assessing the level of infection attack rate. Our results show that speed is a key factor to a successful immunization strategy to control the pandemic even when the emerging variants may reduce the efficacy of a vaccine. Understanding the interactions between speed and efficacy and distributing vaccines that are available as quickly as possible are crucial to eradicate the pandemic before new variants spread. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:41:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-707883098ad74808a5fece698bfabff2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:41:11Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-707883098ad74808a5fece698bfabff22022-12-22T02:53:53ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-05-011211810.1038/s41598-022-11060-8The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variantsDaniel Kim0Pınar Keskinocak1Pelin Pekgün2İnci Yildirim3H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyH. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyMoore School of Business, University of South CarolinaDepartment of Pediatrics, Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Yale School of Medicine, Yale Institute of Global HealthAbstract During a pandemic, vaccination plays an important role in reducing the infection spread or adverse outcomes such as hospitalizations and deaths. However, a vaccine’s overall public health impact depends not only on its initial efficacy, but also its efficacy against emerging variants and ease and speed of distribution. For example, mutations in SARS-CoV-2 raised concerns about diminishing vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 caused by particular variants. Furthermore, due to supply-chain challenges, the accessibility and distribution of the vaccines have been hindered in many regions, especially in low-income countries, while the second or third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has occurred due to the variants. Hence, we evaluated the interactions between the speed of distribution and efficacy against infection of multiple vaccines when variants emerge by utilizing a Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Deceased model and assessing the level of infection attack rate. Our results show that speed is a key factor to a successful immunization strategy to control the pandemic even when the emerging variants may reduce the efficacy of a vaccine. Understanding the interactions between speed and efficacy and distributing vaccines that are available as quickly as possible are crucial to eradicate the pandemic before new variants spread.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11060-8 |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Kim Pınar Keskinocak Pelin Pekgün İnci Yildirim The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variants Scientific Reports |
| title | The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variants |
| title_full | The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variants |
| title_fullStr | The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variants |
| title_full_unstemmed | The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variants |
| title_short | The balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of COVID-19 vaccines under variants |
| title_sort | balancing role of distribution speed against varying efficacy levels of covid 19 vaccines under variants |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11060-8 |
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