Daily Chart: modeling benchmarks for COVID-19 vaccines

A computational model described in a medRxiv preprint calculates the vaccine efficacy and population coverage needed to “prevent or largely extinguish” the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. without social distancing or other restrictive measures.

The authors, which include Baylor College of Medicine professor and former Sabin Vaccine Institute President Peter Hotez, said removing the need for social distancing would require a vaccine to have at least 70% efficacy and cover at least 60% of the population, when administered within the first 90 days of an epidemic. ...