Adults 20-49 are driving the spread of COVID-19 and vaccinating that group could be key to controlling the pace of infections, a study suggests. Researchers at London's Imperial College estimated that at least 65% of new U.S. infections originate from that age group.
"Targeting interventions – including transmission-blocking vaccines – to adults age 20-49 is an important consideration in halting resurgent epidemics and preventing COVID-19-attributable deaths," the study's authors say in the publication Science.
Older adults – currently at or near the front of the line for vaccinations and facing the highest death rate – and children drive very little of the spread, the study says. So should vaccination efforts target young adults first?
"It's a really good question," Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School professor, told USA TODAY. "Do we vaccinate the most vulnerable or the ones most involved in transmission? If you remove the vectors you have a chance" of curbing the spread.
Brownstein said early data indicates vaccines can prevent transmission, "but we don't know for sure." So protecting the most vulnerable should remain a priority, he said. "These findings do put additional pressure on getting the vaccines widely rolled out," he said.
Ogbonnaya Omenka, an associate professor and public health specialist at Butler University in Indianapolis, agreed, adding that “shifting goal posts” are part of the process in combating a pandemic.
"Mitigating the effects of an infectious agent is like an arms race or a chess game," Omenka said. "The aim is to take advantage of the opponent’s gaps or vulnerabilities. Our COVID-19 strategies are liable to (include) adjustments, as driven by emerging evidence."