Introduction: Vaccination programs aim to control the COVID-19 pandemic . However, the relative impacts of vaccine coverage, effectiveness, and capacity in the context of nonpharmaceutical interventions such as mask use and physical distancing on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 are unclear . Our objective was to examine the impact of vaccination on the control of SARS-CoV-2 using our previously developed agent-based simulation model .

Methods: We applied our agent-based model to replicate COVID-19-related events in 1) Dane County, Wisconsin; 2) Milwaukee metropolitan area, Wisconsin; 3) New York City (NYC). We evaluated the impact of vaccination considering the proportion of the population vaccinated, probability that a vaccinated individual gains immunity, vaccination capacity, and adherence to nonpharmaceutical interventions . The primary outcomes were the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and the timing of pandemic control, defined as the date after which only a small number of new cases occur . We also estimated the number of cases without vaccination .

Results: The timing of pandemic control depends highly on vaccination coverage, effectiveness, and adherence to nonpharmaceutical interventions . In Dane County and Milwaukee, if 50% of the population is vaccinated with a daily vaccination capacity of 0.1% of the population, vaccine effectiveness of 90%, and the adherence to nonpharmaceutical interventions is 85%, controlled spread could be achieved by July 2021 and August 2021, respectively versus in March 2022 in both regions without vaccine . If adherence to nonpharmaceutical interventions increases to 70%, controlled spread could be achieved by May 2021 and April 2021 in Dane County and Milwaukee, respectively .

Discussion: In controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the impact of vaccination varies widely depending not only on effectiveness and coverage, but also concurrent adherence to nonpharmaceutical interventions . The effect of SARS-CoV-2 variants was not considered.