Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Apr;20(4):365-373.
doi: 10.1080/14760584.2021.1903879. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Effects of SARS-CoV-2 variants on vaccine efficacy and response strategies

Lianlian Bian  1 , Fan Gao  1 , Jialu Zhang  1 , Qian He  1 , Qunying Mao  1 , Miao Xu  1 , Zhenglun Liang  1
Affiliations
Review

Effects of SARS-CoV-2 variants on vaccine efficacy and response strategies

Lianlian Bian et al. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: As the global severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic continues to spread, several variants have emerged. Variants B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 have attracted significant attention owing to their widespread transmission and possible immune evasion. A total of 19 SARS-CoV-2 vaccines based on original strains have entered clinical studies, including nine vaccines that have obtained emergency use or conditional marketing authorizations. However, newly emerging variants may affect their protective efficacy. Decreased efficacy of the Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca vaccines against B.1.351 has been reported. The spread of variants creates a tremendous challenge for the prevention and control of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic via vaccination. Several response strategies, including accelerating massive rollouts of current vaccines, increasing vaccine immunogenicity by increasing vaccination doses, and accelerating next-generation vaccines against variants, have been suggested.

Areas covered: SARS-CoV-2 vaccine efficacy against variants and response strategies for emerging variants.

Expert opinion: Current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines authorized for emergency use or under clinical trials have shown certain advantages in providing adequate protection against new variants. We analyzed the effects of reported variants on neutralizing antibodies and the protective efficacy of different vaccines and propose strategies for applying current vaccines against variants and developing next-generation vaccines.

Keywords: SARS-cov-2; neutralization; protective efficacy; vaccine; variant.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Schematic diagram of mutation sites for the B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 variants
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Wu F, Zhao S, Yu B, et al. A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China. Nature. 2020;579(7798):265–269. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhou P, Yang XL, Wang XG, et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020;579(7798):270–273. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tang JW, Tambyah PA, Hui DS.. Emergence of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant in the UK. J Infect. 2020;S0163-4453(20):30786–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Volz E, Hill V, Mccrone JT, et al. Evaluating the effects of SARS-CoV-2 spike mutation D614G on transmissibility and pathogenicity. Cell. 2021;184(1):64–75. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Evans C. Tracking changes in SARS-CoV-2 spike: evidence that D614G increases infectivity of the COVID-19 virus. Cell. 2020;182(4):812–827. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types