Projecting the Impact of Covid-19 Variants and Vaccination Strategies in Disease Transmission using a Multilayer Network Model in Costa Rica
For countries starting to receive steady supplies of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the course of Covid-19 for the following months will be determined by the emergence of new variants and successful roll-out of vaccination campaigns. To anticipate this scenario, we used a multilayer network model developed to forecast the transmission dynamics of Covid-19 in Costa Rica, and to estimate the impact of the introduction of the Delta variant in the country, under two plausible vaccination scenarios, one sustaining Costa Rica's July 2021 vaccination pace of 30,000 doses per day and with high acceptance from the population and another with declining vaccination pace to 13,000 doses per day and with lower acceptance. Results suggest that the introduction and gradual dominance of the Delta variant would increase Covid-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions between $35\%$ and $33.25\%$, from August 2021 to December 2021, depending on vaccine administration and acceptance. In the presence of the Delta variant, new Covid-19 hospitalizations and ICU admission would experience an average increase of $24.26\%$ and $27.19\%$ respectively in the same period if the vaccination pace drops. Our results can help decision-makers better prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic in the months to come.