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G. Angelov, R. Kovacevic, N. Stilianakis, V.M. Veliov:
"Optimal vaccination strategies using a distributed epidemiological model applied to COVID-19.";
Research Reports (Vienna University of Technology, Institute of Statistics and Mathematical Methods in Economics, Operations Research and Control Systems), 2021-02 (2021), 02; 22 pages.

Optimal distribution of vaccines to achieve high population immunity levels is a desir-able aim in infectious disease epidemiology. A distributed optimal control epidemiologicalmodel that accounts for vaccination was developed and applied to the case of the COVID-19 pandemic.Based on the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 we analyze severalvaccination scenarios and an optimal vaccination policy. In particular we consider randomvaccination over the whole population and the prioritization of age groups such as the elderlyand compare the effects with the optimal solution. Numerical results of the model showedthat random vaccination was efficient in reducing the overall number of infected individuals.Prioritization of the elderly would lead to lower mortality though. The optimal strategy interms of total deaths was early prioritization of those groups having the highest contact rates.Optimal control theory used in epidemiological modelling can provide valuable insights intothe dynamics of vaccination strategies identify optimal solutions and inform public healthdecision making.

https://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_296156.pdf