Mechanistic Models of COVID-19: Insights into Disease Progression, Vaccines, and Therapeutics

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted health systems and economies worldwide. Significant global effort s are therefore ongoing to improve vaccine efficacies, optimize vaccine deployment, and de-velop new antiviral therapies to combat the pandemic. Mechanistic viral dynamics and quantitative sys-tems pharmacology models of SARS-CoV-2 infection, vaccines, immunomodulatory agents, and antiviral therapeutics have played a key role in advancing our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and transmission, the interplay between innate and adaptive immunity to influence the outcomes of infec-tion, effectiveness of treatments, mechanisms and performance of COVID-19 vaccines, and the impact of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Here, we review some of the critical insights provided by these models and discuss the challenges ahead.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd and International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on global health systems and economies. Efforts are underway to improve vaccine efficacy, optimize deployment, and develop new antiviral therapies. Mechanistic viral dynamics and pharmacology models have played a key role in advancing our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, as well as the effectiveness of treatments and vaccines.