March 10, 2021

Comparison of COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization Strategies in the United States

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Vaccines and Immunity

Keywords (Tags): modeling, prediction

• [Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A static simulation model using California as an example to compare the impact of different vaccine prioritization strategies in the United States found that prioritizing older individuals averted the highest proportion of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs, 40% for 5 million individuals vaccinated) and deaths (65%), but the lowest proportion of cases (12%). Prioritizing essential workers averted the lowest proportion of DALYs (25%) and deaths (33%). Allocating vaccines simultaneously by age and location or multiple factors (age, sex, race/ethnicity, location, occupation, and comorbidity status) averted a significantly higher proportion of DALYs (48% and 56%) than any strategy prioritizing by a single risk factor. The authors note that their approach may underestimate the impact of vaccination by not incorporating onward transmission.

Chapman et al. (Mar 8, 2021). Comparison of COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization Strategies in the United States. Pre-print downloaded Mar 10 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.04.21251264