National interest may require distributing COVID-19 vaccines to other countries

7Citations
Citations of this article
40Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

As immunization campaigns are accelerating, understanding how to distribute the scarce doses of vaccines is of paramount importance and a quantitative analysis of the trade-offs involved in domestic-only versus cooperative distribution is still missing. In this study we use a network Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) model to show circumstances under which it is in a country’s self-interest to ensure other countries can obtain COVID-19 vaccines rather than focusing only on vaccination of their own residents. In particular, we focus our analysis on the United States and estimate the internal burden of COVID-19 disease under different scenarios about vaccine cooperation. We show that in scenarios in which the US has reached the threshold for domestic herd immunity, the US may find it optimal to donate doses to other countries with lower vaccination coverage, as this would allow for a sharp reduction in the inflow of infected individuals from abroad.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Rotesi, T., Pin, P., Cucciniello, M., Malik, A. A., Paintsil, E. E., Bokemper, S. E., … Omer, S. B. (2021). National interest may require distributing COVID-19 vaccines to other countries. Scientific Reports, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97544-5

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free