Delay in booster schedule as a control parameter in vaccination dynamics (Q2007693)

This paper studies the role of a booster schedule on the long term disease dynamics. A system of delay differential equations is developed to include some parameters describing the protection efficacy of primary vaccine series, durations of partial and full protection following vaccination. The coverage of the primary and the booster doses is also featured. The delay in the booster dose after completing primary series using parameter values estimated for Hib is modeled. The system is shown to be well-posed and the solution semi-flow admits a global attractor. If the basic reproduction number \(R_0<1\), the disease-free equilibrium of the system is shown to be globally asymptotically stable. The simulation shows that the reduction of the disease transmissibility depends critically on the timing of a booster dose.