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Review
. 2022 Mar 2;2(1):23-49.
doi: 10.1515/mr-2021-0023. eCollection 2022 Feb 1.

A review on COVID-19 transmission, epidemiological features, prevention and vaccination

Yuqin Zhang  1 , Gonghua Wu  1 , Shirui Chen  1 , Xu Ju  1 , Wumitijiang Yimaer  1 , Wangjian Zhang  1 , Shao Lin  2 , Yuantao Hao  1   3 , Jing Gu  1 , Jinghua Li  1
Affiliations
Review

A review on COVID-19 transmission, epidemiological features, prevention and vaccination

Yuqin Zhang et al. Med Rev (2021). .

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused hundreds of millions of infections and millions of deaths over past two years. Currently, many countries have still not been able to take the pandemic under control. In this review, we systematically summarized what we have done to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspectives of virus transmission, public health control measures, to the development and vaccination of COVID-19 vaccines. As a virus most likely coming from bats, the SARS-CoV-2 may transmit among people via airborne, faecal-oral, vertical or foodborne routes. Our meta-analysis suggested that the R0 of COVID-19 was 2.9 (95% CI: 2.7-3.1), and the estimates in Africa and Europe could be higher. The median Rt could decrease by 23-96% following the nonpharmacological interventions, including lockdown, isolation, social distance, and face mask, etc. Comprehensive intervention and lockdown were the most effective measures to control the pandemic. According to the pooled R0 in our meta-analysis, there should be at least 93.3% (95% CI: 89.9-96.2%) people being vaccinated around the world. Limited amount of vaccines and the inequity issues in vaccine allocation call for more international cooperation to achieve the anti-epidemic goals and vaccination fairness.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; pandemic; review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Flowchart of reports selection for inclusion in the systematic review.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
The proportion of records reporting R0 values in five continents. R0, the basic reproduction number.
Figure 3a:
Figure 3a:
Meta-analysis of the synthetic estimated R0 for COVID-19 with confirmed cases. R0, the basic reproduction number. CI, confidence interval.
Figure 3b:
Figure 3b:
Meta-analysis of the synthetic estimated R0 for COVID-19 with reported case data. R0, the basic reproduction number. CI, confidence interval.
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
Boxplot of R0 and Rt metrics across continents. R0, the basic reproduction number. Rt, the time-dependent reproduction number.
Figure 5:
Figure 5:
Comparison of R0 and Rt metrics across countries. R0, the basic reproduction number; Rt, the time-dependent reproduction number.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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