Citerank: (7) 679750Ali AsgaryAssociate Professor and Associate Director, Advanced Disaster, Emergency and Rapid Response Simulation (ADERSIM) in the School of Administrative Studies, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Information Technology, at York University.10019D3ABAB, 679812Jianhong WuProfessor Jianhong Wu is a University Distinguished Research Professor and Senior Canada Research Chair in industrial and applied mathematics at York University. He is also the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in vaccine mathematics, modelling, and manufacturing. 10019D3ABAB, 679815Jude KongDr. Jude Dzevela Kong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at York University and the founding Director of the Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium (ACADIC). 10019D3ABAB, 701037MfPH – Publications144B5ACA0, 704045Covid-19859FDEF6, 715666Social networks859FDEF6, 715767Woldegebriel Assefa WoldegerimaDr. Woldegerima, knows as "Assefa", is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at York University.10019D3ABAB

[PLOS ONE, 24 August 2022]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economy. In this paper, we use the Phillips curve to compare and analyze the macroeconomics of three different countries with distinct income levels, namely, lower-middle (Nigeria), upper-middle (South Africa), and high (Canada) income. We aim to (1) find macroeconomic changes in the three countries during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic time, (2) compare the countries in terms of response to the COVID-19 economic crisis, and (3) compare their expected economic reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in the near future. An advantage to our work is that we analyze macroeconomics on a monthly basis to capture the shocks and rapid changes caused by on and off rounds of lockdowns. We use the volume and social sentiments of the Twitter data to approximate the macroeconomic statistics. We apply four different machine learning algorithms to estimate the unemployment rate of South Africa and Nigeria on monthly basis. The results show that at the beginning of the pandemic the unemployment rate increased for all the three countries. However, Canada was able to control and reduce the unemployment rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, in line with the Phillips curve short-run, the inflation rate of Canada increased to a level that has never occurred in more than fifteen years. Nigeria and South Africa have not been able to control the unemployment rate and did not return to the pre-COVID-19 level. Yet, the inflation rate has increased in both countries. The inflation rate is still comparable to the pre-COVID-19 level in South Africa, but based on the Phillips curve short-run, it will increase further, if the unemployment rate decreases. Unfortunately, Nigeria is experiencing a horrible stagflation and a wild increase in both unemployment and inflation rates. This shows how vulnerable lower-middle-income countries could be to lockdowns and economic restrictions. In the near future, the main concern for all the countries is the high inflation rate. This work can potentially lead to more targeted and publicly acceptable policies based on social media content.

[International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 28 February 2022]

Purpose: Given limited supplies of vaccines, having information on the costs, and associated health and economic impacts, is important for the development of optimal vaccination strategies. This study explores the epidemiological and economic impact, in terms of the value of lost production, of four vaccination strategies – fixed-dose interval (M1), prioritization of the first dose (M2), screen and forego vaccine for those with COVID-19 infection history (M3), and prioritization of the first dose along with screen and forego vaccine for those with COVID-19 infection history(M4), under constraints limiting the daily vaccine supply.

Methods & Materials: Using mathematical and statistical modelling, we quantified the number quarantined, hospitalization days, vaccine doses saved, and deaths averted, and production losses, for each strategy, in comparison to M1. The model parameters and initial conditions were based on Canadian data, and the simulation ran over 365 days starting from June 1, 2021. Sensitivity analyses explored how each strategy changes with different conditions of daily vaccine supply, the initial proportion recovered from COVID19 infection, and initial coverage of the first dose.

Results: Strategy M2 results in a reduction of 67,130,775 doses of vaccine administered, 20 lives saved, and a reduction of $3.8 billion of lost production in comparison to M1. M3 does not save any vaccine dose administered, but results in 5 lives saved, and a reduction of $575,149 in lost production in comparison to strategy M1. Due to the large proportion of the Canadian population who have already received a first vaccine dose, no screening actually occurs under scenario M3 and the daily vaccine supply was used entirely to provide second doses. While M2 is the dominant strategy under the current Canadian setting, sensitivity analyses revealed that M3 dominates when the vaccine supply increased or when the initial recovered proportion from COVID-19 was large enough.

Conclusion: The findings quantify the potential benefits of alternative vaccination strategies that can save lives and costs. Our study findings can help policymakers identify the optimal COVID19 vaccination strategy and our study framework can be adapted to other settings.

[BMC Medicine, 23 November 2022]

Background: Diagnostic testing has been pivotal in detecting SARS-CoV-2 infections and reducing transmission through the isolation of positive cases. We quantified the value of implementing frequent, rapid antigen (RA) testing in the workplace to identify screening programs that are cost-effective.

Methods: To project the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths under alternative screening programs, we adapted an agent-based model of COVID-19 transmission and parameterized it with the demographics of Ontario, Canada, incorporating vaccination and waning of immunity. Taking into account healthcare costs and productivity losses associated with each program, we calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) with quality-adjusted life year (QALY) as the measure of effect. Considering RT-PCR testing of only severe cases as the baseline scenario, we estimated the incremental net monetary benefits (iNMB) of the screening programs with varying durations and initiation times, as well as different booster coverages of working adults.

Results: Assuming a willingness-to-pay threshold of CDN$30,000 per QALY loss averted, twice weekly workplace screening was cost-effective only if the program started early during a surge. In most scenarios, the iNMB of RA screening without a confirmatory RT-PCR or RA test was comparable or higher than the iNMB for programs with a confirmatory test for RA-positive cases. When the program started early with a duration of at least 16 weeks and no confirmatory testing, the iNMB exceeded CDN$1.1 million per 100,000 population. Increasing booster coverage of working adults improved the iNMB of RA screening.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that frequent RA testing starting very early in a surge, without a confirmatory test, is a preferred screening program for the detection of asymptomatic infections in workplaces.