Comparison of COVID-19 Resilience Index and Its Associated Factors across 29 Countries during the Delta and Omicron Variant Periods

Abstract

Our study aims to compare the pandemic resilience index and explore the associated factors during the Delta and Omicron variant periods. In addition, the study aims to identify the characteristics of countries that had good performances. We analyzed observation data among 29 countries over the first eight weeks during the two periods of Delta and Omicron variant dominance. Data were extracted from open public databases. The Omicron variant caused a lowered mortality rate per 100,000 COVID-19 patients; however, it is still imposing a colossal burden on health care systems. We found the percentage of the population fully vaccinated and high government indices were significantly associated with a better resilience index in both the Delta and Omicron periods. In contrast, the higher death rate of cancers and greater years lived with disability (YLD) caused by low bone density were linked with poor resilience index in the Omicron periods. Over two periods of Delta and Omicron, countries with good performance had a lower death rate from chronic diseases and lower YLD caused by nutrition deficiency and PM2.5. Our findings suggest that governments need to keep enhancing the vaccine coverage rates, developing interventions for populations with chronic diseases and nutrition deficiency to mitigate COVID-19 impacts on these targeted vulnerable cohorts.