Relevance of non-pharmacological measures in the face of the advance of vaccination

ABSTRACT

The various SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have been an important and necessary step forward in the fight against the pandemic. Vaccines have been demonstrated to be effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalizations. However, the risk of transmission could remain, so it is also necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine against other determinants such as viral load (related to the virus's ability to transmit). In addition to vaccination, there are other factors that influence the reduction of transmission, such as non-pharmacological prevention interventions, individual susceptibility or the characteristics and duration of exposure. This review aims to analyze the possibility of relaxing the pandemic control measures based on vaccine effectiveness, coverage and circulation of new variants, among other factors. It is concluded that at this time some measures can begin to be relaxed in groups of fully vaccinated people, but it is necessary to continue to keep them until enough coverage is achieved, which is calculated could occur at the end of summer 2021.