Abstract: What does it mean that a vaccine has an efficacy of 85%? If one thinks about it for a moment, one realizes that there is more than one possible answer. In this lecture, I will introduce two models of vaccine action. For vaccines with an all- or-none mode of action, a fraction of all vaccinated individuals is fully immune while the remaining vaccinated individuals remain fully susceptible. For vaccines with a leaky mode of action, all vaccinated individuals have the same reduced (but non-zero) risk of infection at every exposure to the virus. I will show how to apply mathematical modeling to study the consequences of the mode of action for the dynamics of infected and uninfected individuals over time. At the end, I will explain how the mode of action affects the appropriate approach to measuring vaccine efficacy in randomized trials.
Mathematical models of vaccine efficacy
23.03.2022 14:00 - 14:30
Organiser:
R. I. Boţ
Location:
Zoom Meeting