RAMP Continuity Network: COVID-19 Scientific Engagement Meetings

Description of Activity

Participated in the Scientific Engagement Meeting #1: "Evolutionary Implications".

The Newton Gateway is playing a key role in the RAMP Continuity Network (a UKRI funded project) and will deliver a series of meetings, workshops and virtual study groups. The aim of this will be to ensure scientific networking to help maintain strong communication links among RAMP-initiated projects, and further develop links between these and the wider modelling community around COVID-19.

The COVID-19 vaccine is currently being rolled out in the UK and globally, but there is a limited supply available. Therefore, countries are having to prioritise which subgroups of the population will receive the vaccine first. For example, in the UK vaccination has been targeted at the older age groups, health-care workers and those that are at greater risk of needing hospitalisation as a result of contracting COVID-19. Such a strategy is focused on reducing disease rather than transmission, since currently the impacts of the vaccine on blocking transmission are still uncertain.

This workshop will focus on the use of quantitative modelling approaches to understand the evolutionary implications of vaccination programmes. Such approaches are key to developing optimal vaccination strategies and understanding which subgroups in society should be prioritised for vaccination against COVD-19. The aim of these 2 afternoon sessions will be to understand the potential implications of different vaccination strategies on the evolutionary dynamics of COVID-19.

Period	19 Apr 2021 → 20 Apr 2021
Event type	Workshop
Degree of Recognition	International