Modelling the interplay between responsive individual vaccination decisions and the spread of SARS-CoV-2

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy proved to be a major barrier to higher uptake, but it is unclear whether interventions targeting hesitancy could result in substantial prevention benefits. Epidemic models that represent vaccine decision-making psychology can provide insight into the potential impact of vaccine promotion interventions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and future epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases.

We coupled a network- and agent-based model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission with a social-psychological vaccination decision-making model in which vaccine side effects and breakthrough infections could “nudge” individuals towards vaccine resistance while spikes in COVID-19 hospitalizations could nudge them towards vaccine willingness. This model was parameterized and calibrated to represent the COVID-19 epidemic in Georgia, USA from January 2021 to August 2022. We modelled counterfactual scenarios in which increases to resistant-to-willing nudges were combined with decreases to willing-to-resistant nudges. We compared cumulative vaccine doses administered, SARS-CoV-2 incidence, and COVID-related deaths across scenarios.

Increasing the probability of hospitalization-prompted resistant-to-willing nudges increased vaccine uptake by as much as 5.4 % and decreased SARS-CoV-2 incidence by as much as 4.0 %. In contrast, decreasing the probability of breakthrough infection-related willing-to-resistant nudges had a negligible impact on further vaccination and disease outcomes.

Vaccine promotion interventions that address community-level factors influencing decision-making may have a greater ability to avert SARS-CoV-2 infections than those targeted to individual vaccination and infection history. Additionally, reactive vaccine promotion interventions may have only limited prevention benefits in the short term, suggesting that attention should be paid to formulating interventions that accurately anticipate the case curve.