Diverse vaccine platforms safeguarding against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Appearances of SARS-CoV-2 variants have created havoc and additional challenges for the ongoing vaccination drive against pandemic COVID-19. Interestingly, several vaccine platforms are showing great potential to produce successful vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. Billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. Mix-and-Match COVID-19 vaccines involving the mixing of the same platform vaccines and also two different vaccine platforms may provide greater protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. COVID-19 vaccines have become one of the most important tools to mitigate the ongoing pandemic COVID-19.

Areas covered

We describe SARS-Cov-2 variants, their impact on the population, COVID-19 vaccines, diverse vaccine platforms, doses of vaccines, the efficacy of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, mitigation of the COVID-19 transmission- alternatives to vaccines.

Expert opinion

Diverse vaccine platforms may safeguard against ongoing, deadly SARS-CoV-2 and its infectious variants. The efficacies of COVID-19 vaccines are significantly high after the administration of the second dose. Further, it protects individuals including vulnerable patients with co-morbidities from SARS-CoV-2 and its variants. The hospitalizations and deaths of the individuals may be prevented by COVID-19 vaccines.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• sars-cov-2
• vaccines
• diverse
• variants
• platforms

Acknowledgments

BC has received the fellowship from Department of Science and Technology (DST) in area of Women Scientist Scheme A (WOS-A).

Article highlights

• Resurfacing COVID-19 with new SARS-CoV-2 variants has created panic worldwide. These variants can influence several parameters including transmission, severity, diagnostics, therapeutics, and natural and vaccine-induced immunity.

• COVID-19 vaccines came within a year as the vaccine development program was fast-tracked by several countries/ regulatory authorities. Several COVID-19 vaccines have been globally accepted due to their efficacy and safety thereby overcoming vaccine hesitancy.

• The development of COVID-19 vaccines involved diverse vaccine platforms and is divided into major platforms such as inactivated, viral vector, protein-based, nucleic acids (RNA and DNA) based platform, yeast-based vaccines, and conjugated vaccines with antimicrobial peptides.

• Studies about the effectiveness of different vaccines on the variants of SARS-CoV-2 are developing quickly including several studies about the Mix-and-Match COVID-19 vaccine as it may provide significantly higher protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.

• The vaccine effectiveness was more pronounced after the receipt of the second dose.

• The vaccination will help in preventing hospitalizations and deaths.

• Mitigation of COVID-19 transmission can be achieved by personal, administrative and engineering controls.

Author contributions

B Chatterjee and SS Thakur have conceived the idea and wrote the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.