An Iowa State University mathematician is developing a way to track the spread of COVID-19 that factors in people’s social interactions more realistically. I-S-U researcher Claus Kadelka says he noticed early in the pandemic that many models assume people engage in random social interactions. According to his model, Kadelka says there will likely be clusters of people who won’t want to get the vaccine, meaning, government officials may need to aim to vaccinate more than 60- to 70-percent of the population.

He says policymakers should focus on getting more data on people’s social interactions during the pandemic before making key decisions.