Optimal vaccination strategies in the control of an infectious disease: a SEIRV model for administration of two vaccines

TL;DR

This paper develops an optimal control model for vaccination strategies using a SEIRV framework with two vaccines of differing efficacy, aiming to minimize costs while controlling disease spread.

Contribution

It introduces a novel SEIRV model incorporating two vaccines and derives optimal vaccination policies considering efficacy and economic factors.

Findings

Optimal vaccination schedules depend on vaccine efficacy and availability.

Sensitivity analysis reveals key parameters influencing strategy effectiveness.

The model predicts infection dynamics under optimal vaccination policies.

Abstract

In this paper, we study the optimal control for an SEIR model adapted to the vaccination strategy of susceptible individuals. There are factors associated with a vaccination campaign that make this strategy not only a public health issue but also an economic one. In this case, optimal control is important as it minimizes implementation costs. We consider the availability of two vaccines with different efficacy levels, and the control indicates when each vaccine should be used. The optimal strategy specifies in all cases how vaccine purchases should be distributed. For similar efficacy values, we perform a sensitivity analysis on parameters that depend on the intrinsic characteristics of the vaccines. Additionally, we investigate the behavior of the number of infections under the optimal vaccination strategy.