Vaccination for COVID-19 control and considerations for Australia
Raina MacIntyre A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Kirby Institute, Level 6, Wallace Wurth Building, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Email: r.macintyre@unsw.edu.au
Microbiology Australia 42(1) 30-34 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA21009
Submitted: 17 January 2021 Accepted: 13 February 2021 Published: 12 April 2021
Journal Compilation © The Authors 2021 Open Access CC BY, published (by CSIRO Publishing) on behalf of the ASM
Abstract
Vaccines remain the main prospect for an exit strategy from the COVID-19 pandemic, and may, depending on efficacy, duration of protection and uptake, make herd immunity feasible. If herd immunity is not achievable, SARS-COV-2 will circulate long-term. There are many vaccine candidates in development and choices between vaccines that will vary in efficacy and safety. The efficacy of available vaccines is compared and ranges from 62–95% against symptomatic infection with the G614 variant. Efficacy is reduced against new variants of concern and is uncertain against asymptomatic infection. Some vaccines show a better protective immune response than natural infection. The principles of herd immunity and prerequisites for achieving it, such as vaccine efficacy, duration of protection and coverage, are discussed. The alternative vaccine strategies including mass vaccination, targeted risk or age-based vaccination and ring vaccination, as well as speed of vaccination are reviewed. Finally, the impact of variants of concern on vaccine programs and the logistics of mass vaccination are discussed.
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