Date/Time
03/28/2025
10:40 am-11:30 am
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Location
Williamson Hall Room 100
1843 Stadium Road
Gainesville, FL 32611
Details
Abstract:
Resource Allocation in the Presence of Vaccine Hesitancy: A Compartmental Stochastic Optimization Model for COVID-19
We propose a compartmental multi-stage stochastic program (MSP) for allocation of critical resources under uncertainty during a disease outbreak. The proposed model uses an epidemiological compartmental model to capture the spread of the infectious disease. This model adaptively manages the allocation of resources to account for changes in population’s behavior toward vaccines, the unique patterns of disease spread, and the availability of healthcare resources over time and space. We developed a case study using real-life data of COVID-19 vaccination uptake in U.S. Via our numerical analysis, we observed that (i) delaying the initial deployment of additional critical resource (i.e., ventilators) lead to an increase in the expected number of deaths, highlighting the importance of prompt action; (ii) each additional critical resource in the initial stockpile and in supply lead to a decrease in the expected number of deaths, highlighting the importance of maintaining a large stockpile and scalable production response; (iii) the price of ensuring equitable allocation of resources changes over time and space. This price is highest during the peak of a disease outbreak and in highly populated regions. In summary, this study highlights the critical role of advanced planning and preparedness for future outbreaks, offering a framework for effective resource allocation.
Bio: Dr. Sandra D. Eksioglu is the Hefley Professor in Logistics and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Industrial Engineering at University of Arkansas. She currently serves as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering. Dr. Eksioglu’s expertise is in operations research with applications in supply chain, energy systems and health care. Dr. Eksioglu has co-authored several publications, and a textbook that is being used in over 20 countries. She is a Fellow of IISE and an active member of INFORMS and ASEE.