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Review
. 2021 Dec;22(6):1407.
doi: 10.3892/etm.2021.10843. Epub 2021 Oct 5.

Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and their challenges (Review)

Gabriella Marfe  1 , Stefania Perna  1 , Arvind Kumar Shukla  2   3
Affiliations
Review

Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and their challenges (Review)

Gabriella Marfe et al. Exp Ther Med. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

At the end of 2019, a new disease recognized such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), was reported in Wuhan, China. This disease was caused by an unknown SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); a virus is characterized by high infectivity among humans. In some cases, this disease can be asymptomatic, while in other cases can induce flu-like symptoms or acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia and death. For this reason, the World Health Organization and Public Health Emergency of International Concern declared a pandemic status in January 2020. Currently, numerous countries have been involved in the development of effective vaccines to protect humans against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The present review will discuss the four vaccines, AZD1222 (AstraZeneca or Vaxzevria), Janssen (Ad26.COV2.S), Moderna/mRNA-1273 and BioNTech/Fosun/Pfizer BNT162b1, that are currently in use worldwide to understand their efficacy, but also evaluate the difficulties and challenges of vaccine development. Although several questions should be addressed regarding these vaccines, the current review will examine the viral elements used in the coronavirus-19 vaccine that can play a crucial role in inducing a strong immune response, as well as the different adverse effects that they can cause to individuals.

Keywords: adverse effects; coronavirus-19; immunity; mRNA; pandemic; vaccines.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Details of two coronavirus-19 vaccines based on the whole inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. (A) Sinovac vaccine. (B) Sinopharm vaccine.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Coronavirus-19 vaccines based on spike protein DNA carried by adenoviruses. (A) AZD1222 vaccine (chimpanzee adenovirus: AstraZeneca, University of Oxford, Sweden-UK-Italy). (B) Janssen (Ad26.COV2.S human adenoviruses).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Coronavirus-19 vaccines based on spike protein mRNA carried by lipidic microparticles. (A) Moderna/mRNA-1273. (B) BioNTech/Fosun/Pfizer BNT162b1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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