Modeling vaccination strategies with limited early COVID-19 vaccine access in low- and middle-income countries: A case study of Thailand
Issued Date
2023-01-01
Resource Type
ISSN
24680427
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85176937269
Journal Title
Infectious Disease Modelling
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Infectious Disease Modelling (2023)
Suggested Citation
Anupong S., Chantanasaro T., Wilasang C., Jitsuk N.C., Sararat C., Sornbundit K., Pattanasiri B., Wannigama D.L., Amarasiri M., Chadsuthi S., Modchang C. Modeling vaccination strategies with limited early COVID-19 vaccine access in low- and middle-income countries: A case study of Thailand. Infectious Disease Modelling (2023). doi:10.1016/j.idm.2023.11.003 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/91202
Title
Modeling vaccination strategies with limited early COVID-19 vaccine access in low- and middle-income countries: A case study of Thailand
Author's Affiliation
Yamagata Prefectural Central Hospital
UWA Medical School
Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Science
Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus
Naresuan University
Mahidol University
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University
Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation
The University of Sheffield
UWA Medical School
Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Science
Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus
Naresuan University
Mahidol University
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University
Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation
The University of Sheffield
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Low- and middle-income countries faced significant challenges in accessing COVID-19 vaccines during the early stages of the pandemic. In this study, we utilized an age-structured modeling approach to examine the implications of various vaccination strategies, vaccine prioritization, and vaccine rollout speeds in Thailand, an upper-middle-income country experiencing vaccine shortages during the early stages of the pandemic. The model directly compares the effectiveness of several vaccination strategies, including the heterologous vaccination where CoronaVac (CV) vaccine was administered as the first dose, followed by ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZ) vaccine as the second dose, under varying disease transmission dynamics. We found that the traditional AZ homologous vaccination was more effective than the CV homologous vaccination, regardless of disease transmission dynamics. However, combining CV and AZ vaccines via either parallel homologous or heterologous vaccinations was more effective than relying solely on AZ homologous vaccination. Additionally, prioritizing vaccination for the elderly aged 60 years and above was the most effective way to reduce mortality when community transmission is well-controlled. On the other hand, prioritizing workers aged 20–59 was most effective in lowering COVID-19 cases, irrespective of the transmission dynamics. Lastly, despite the vaccine prioritization strategy, rapid vaccine rollout speeds were crucial in reducing COVID-19 infections and deaths. These findings suggested that in low- and middle-income countries where early access to high-efficacy vaccines might be limited, obtaining any accessible vaccines as early as possible and using them in parallel with other higher-efficacy vaccines might be a better strategy than waiting for and relying solely on higher-efficacy vaccines.