COVID-19 Vaccine Development: The Need, the Fast-track, and the Concerns

Abstract

The Nemesis-SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Leaving in its wake millions of infections, accompanied by an immense magnitude of morbidity and multitude of mortality, and an unfathomable economic toll, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a global impact. A vaccine is urgently needed to prevent the disease, thwart the complications and avert deaths resulting from transmission of the infection. The Hubris-Vaccine Development: While most of the platforms of vaccine candidates have focused on the spike (S) protein and its variants as the primary antigen of COVID 19 infection, various techniques involved include nucleic acid technologies (RNA and DNA), non-replicating viral vectors, peptides, recombinant proteins, live attenuated viruses, and inactivated viruses. There are novel vaccine technologies being developed for COVID 19 using next-generation strategies for precision and flexibility for antigen manipulation on SARS-CoV-2 infection mechanisms. The Elpis-Updates and Prospects: There were nine different technology platforms under research and development to create an effective vaccine against COVID 19. Although there are no licensed vaccines against COVID-19 yet, there are various potential vaccine candidates under development and advanced clinical trials. Out of them, few having undergone phase III clinical trials, may soon be available for use among the high-risk groups following emergency use authorization. Conclusion-Hopes and Concerns: The hope of benefiting from the vaccine to the extent that it may be the only way to tide over and control the COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied by the likely fear of adverse effects and opposition in public for COVID-19 vaccination, including the vaccine hesitancy. Further, there is concern among scientific circles that vaccine may have opposite of the desired effect by causing antibody-dependent disease enhancement.