2023/07/16 by Fernando Montenegro-Dos Santos, Santos, Fernando Montenegro-Dos, Francisco Pérez-Galarce +7
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Mathematics · Social Sciences · #COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts #COVID-19 epidemiological studies #FOS: Mathematics #FOS: Physical sciences #Optimization and Control (math.OC) #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) #Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2307.08718
openalex publication_date 2023/07/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Vaccination campaigns have saved thousands of lives, reaching the farthest places in the world. These campaigns have required substantial investments and accurate coordination between several actors within the vaccine supply chain. Despite these successful strategies, the outbreak of COVID-19 has altered the objectives and rules of undertaking vaccine campaigns. Then, it is essential to consider two new facts in planning vaccination campaigns. First, some groups of infected people by the virus are more vulnerable to severe illness. Second, the virus is exceptionally contagious; sometimes, no symptoms are apparent. Accordingly, we propose a bi-objective optimization model that allows healthcare decision-makers to design effective vaccination campaigns by considering these COVID-19 characteristics and controlling the associated costs. Careful utilization of temporary and traditional vaccination centers is crucial to creating a more robust strategy. Located in suitable places, temporary centers help increase the probability of reaching groups difficult to be vaccinated while simultaneously avoiding crowd congestion and reducing the risk of spreading infections in dispensing vaccination centers. Experiments were conducted using data from an area in Santiago, Chile. The results show the model allows us to manage the resources by providing a variety of vaccination plans according to the prioritization level of each objective.