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Older adults and first responders wait in line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine late last month at the Lakes Regional Library in Fort Myers, Fla. Octavio Jones/Getty Images
Only a vaccine will save America from the COVID -19 pandemic. At least that s the opinion of nearly all public health officials.
Obviously, vaccine manufacturers are critical to any vaccine campaign. But there s another group that plays a less obvious but still crucial role in making sure vaccines do what they re intended: mathematicians.
Even if the Biden administration releases all available doses of the two authorized COVID-19 vaccines, for a while at least, supplies will remain limited. How best to use that limited supply is a question mathematicians can help answer.
Math Problem: What s The Best Strategy For COVID-19 Vaccination? | NPR & Houston Public Media houstonpublicmedia.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from houstonpublicmedia.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2nd stage of COVID-19 vaccination should target those most likely to spread the virus, say some experts
When it comes to the first stage of administering the vaccine for COVID-19, there appears to be wide consensus that policy makers should target the most vulnerable. But some researchers suggest by the second stage, that strategy should change to trying to prevent the spread.
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1st stage will focus on vulnerable, but once more vaccine is available, focus should be reducing transmission
Posted: Dec 14, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: December 15, 2020
A nurse prepares a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Guy s Hospital in London on Dec. 8. The first shots of the vaccine will be available in Canada next week.(Frank Augstein/The Associated Press)