Roles of generation-interval distributions in shaping relative epidemic strength, speed, and control of new SARS-CoV-2 variants

Abstract Inferring the relative strength (i.e., the ratio of reproduction numbers, ℛ var /ℛ wt ) and relative speed (i.e., the difference between growth rates, r var − r wt ) of new SARS-CoV-2 variants compared to their wild types is critical to predicting and controlling the course of the current pandemic. Multiple studies have estimated the relative strength of new variants from the observed relative speed, but they typically neglect the …