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Modelling the impact of age-stratified public health measures on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Canada

Authors :
Vanessa Gabriele-Rivet
Kelsey L. Spence
Nicholas H. Ogden
Aamir Fazil
Patricia Turgeon
Ainsley Otten
Lisa A. Waddell
Victoria Ng
Source :
Royal Society Open Science, Vol 8, Iss 11 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
The Royal Society, 2021.

Abstract

Public health measures applied exclusively within vulnerable populations have been suggested as an alternative to community-wide interventions to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission. With the population demography and healthcare capacity of Canada as an example, a stochastic age-stratified agent-based model was used to explore the progression of the COVID-19 epidemic under three intervention scenarios (infection-preventing vaccination, illness-preventing vaccination and shielding) in individuals above three age thresholds (greater than or equal to 45, 55 and 65 years) while lifting shutdowns and physical distancing in the community. Compared with a scenario with sustained community-wide measures, all age-stratified intervention scenarios resulted in a substantial epidemic resurgence, with hospital and ICU bed usage exceeding healthcare capacities even at the lowest age threshold. Individuals under the age threshold were severely impacted by the implementation of all age-stratified interventions, with large numbers of avoidable deaths. Among all explored scenarios, shielding older individuals led to the most detrimental outcomes (hospitalizations, ICU admissions and mortality) for all ages, including the targeted population. This study suggests that, in the absence of community-wide measures, implementing interventions exclusively within vulnerable age groups could result in unmanageable levels of infections, with serious outcomes within the population. Caution is therefore warranted regarding early relaxation of community-wide restrictions.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20545703
Volume :
8
Issue :
11
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Royal Society Open Science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.6885587e0384075aa9363d93f427f1f
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210834