How will mass-vaccination change COVID-19 lockdown requirements in Australia?

Cameron Zachreson; Sheryl L Chang; Oliver M Cliff; Mikhail Prokopenko

doi:10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100224

How will mass-vaccination change COVID-19 lockdown requirements in Australia?

Lancet Reg Health West Pac. 2021 Sep:14:100224. doi: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100224. Epub 2021 Jul 30.

Authors

Cameron Zachreson^{1

2}, Sheryl L Chang¹, Oliver M Cliff¹, Mikhail Prokopenko^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Complex Systems, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
² School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.
³ Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.

Abstract

Background To prevent future outbreaks of COVID-19, Australia is pursuing a mass-vaccination approach in which a targeted group of the population comprising healthcare workers, aged-care residents and other individuals at increased risk of exposure will receive a highly effective priority vaccine. The rest of the population will instead have access to a less effective vaccine. Methods We apply a large-scale agent-based model of COVID-19 in Australia to investigate the possible implications of this hybrid approach to mass-vaccination. The model is calibrated to recent epidemiological and demographic data available in Australia, and accounts for several components of vaccine efficacy. Findings Within a feasible range of vaccine efficacy values, our model supports the assertion that complete herd immunity due to vaccination is not likely in the Australian context. For realistic scenarios in which herd immunity is not achieved, we simulate the effects of mass-vaccination on epidemic growth rate, and investigate the requirements of lockdown measures applied to curb subsequent outbreaks. In our simulations, Australia's vaccination strategy can feasibly reduce required lockdown intensity and initial epidemic growth rate by 43% and 52%, respectively. The severity of epidemics, as measured by the peak number of daily new cases, decreases by up to two orders of magnitude under plausible mass-vaccination and lockdown strategies. Interpretation The study presents a strong argument for a large-scale vaccination campaign in Australia, which would substantially reduce both the intensity of future outbreaks and the stringency of non-pharmaceutical interventions required for their suppression. Funding Australian Research Council; National Health and Medical Research Council.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; agent-based modelling; computational epidemiology; epidemic growth rate; herd immunity; interventions; mass vaccination; pandemics; vaccine efficacy.