On some general characteristics of the spread of the COVID epidemic

An analytical model for calculating the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic is described, and it is shown that the main patterns of epidemic development are determined by three dimensionless complexes representing the ratios of transmission rates, contact limitation due to lockdown, and population vaccination. A comparison of statistical data on the growth of the epidemic in Germany, Berlin and its various neighbourhoods shows that the development of the epidemic depends to a large extent on the ethnic composition of the population. In the same way as it is accepted in some sections of physics, it is proposed to use the methods of similarity theory to investigate the regularities of the emergence and development of the epidemic.