Preventive and modelling approaches to address the COVID-19 pandemic have been primarily based on the age or occupation, and often disregard the importance of the population contact structure and individual connectivity. To address this gap, we developed models that first incorporate the role of heterogeneity and connectivity and then can be expanded to make assumptions about demographic characteristics. Results demonstrate that variations in the number of connections of individuals within a population modify the impact of public health interventions such vaccination approaches. We conclude that the most effective vaccination strategy will vary depending on the underlying contact structure of individuals within a population and on timing of the interventions.