Rapid response modeling of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

What can modelers learn from recent history to help prepare for the next pandemic? The COVID-19 pandemic has cemented the role of mechanistic infectious disease models as drivers of the scientific, public, and policy discourse during infectious disease emergencies. On page 596 of this issue, Pulliam et al. ( 1 ) add to these contributions through their use of a mechanistic model to document the high rate of reinfection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant in South Africa among people previously infected by the initial wild-type strain or the Alpha, Beta, or Delta variants. This work provides another example of how rapid-response modeling has facilitated the testing of key hypotheses and assumptions with unprecedented speed and near-immediate public health impact.