Two undergraduate students in the Faculty of Arts & Science have created a computer simulation showing the effectiveness of social distancing and isolation at curbing the spread of COVID-19.
It also shows how a vaccine would generate “herd immunity” and stop the pandemic — even though a vaccine has yet to be developed.
Eric Lin is pursuing a double major in immunology and health and disease and is a member of Innis College. Haoying Shen is pursuing a double major in health and disease and statistics and is a member of New College. They created the computer simulation as part of a School of the Environment research project under the Faculty’s Research Opportunity Program.
“We were originally working on a simulation to illustrate the importance of vaccination within a community, especially with the rise of the anti-vaccination movement,” says Lin.