Modelling the combination of vaccination and Non-pharmaceutical interventions strategies to control COVID-19 propagation

Organizers:

Jacques Bélair (Université de Montréal, Canada) & Elena Aruffo (York University, Canada)

Description:

Over the past year COVID-19 has been a threat to the economy and health care systems globally. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), most prominently stay-at-home policy, mask wearing and closure of public spaces, have been widely used as first response to control the spread of the infection. Although these measures significantly influenced the disease’s dynamic, by successfully flattening the curve as the slogan went, vaccination is still considered a more efficient control measure, both clinically and economically. At the turn of the year, a number of countries initiated a COVID-19 vaccination campaign. However, many aspects of the different novel vaccines, such as efficacy and waning properties, are still not entirely known. It is thus important to understand if, and when, NPIs can be relaxed, or even suspended, once vaccine starts to be administered to the public. In this mini-symposium, researchers will share their work on modelling COVID-19 vaccination strategies. In particular, they will present models that capture the combination of control strategies involving vaccine and use of NPIs, and that are able to provide suggestions to public health on the best procedures to ensure safe reopening and relaxation of NPIs.