Forecasting the end time of global COVID-19 infection with the effects
of adaptive behaviors and vaccination
Abstract
We developed a deterministic model with multiple compartments by a
system of differential equations, which allows for simulating novel
coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission dynamics with human adaptive
behaviors and vaccine effects, aiming at predicting the end time of
COVID-19 infection in global scale. Based on the surveillance
information (reported cases and vaccination data) between January 22,
2020 and July 18, 2022, we validated the model by MCMC fitting method.
We found that (1) if without protective and control behaviors, the
epidemic could sweep the world in 2022 and 2023, causing 3.098 billion
of human infections, which is 5.39 times of the current number; (2)
there could be 645 million people avoided from infection due to vaccine;
(3) if following current scenarios of protective/control behaviors and
vaccine rate, the cumulative number of cases would increase slowly,
leveling off around 2023, and the epidemic would end completely in June
2025, causing 1.024 billion infections. Our findings suggest that
collective protection behavior and vaccination remain the key
determinants of the global process of COVID-19 transmission.