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Review
. 2022 Dec 6;23(23):15415.
doi: 10.3390/ijms232315415.

COVID-19 Vaccines, Effectiveness, and Immune Responses

Haneen Imad Abufares  1   2 , Leen Oyoun Alsoud  1   2 , Mohammad A Y Alqudah  1 , Mohd Shara  1 , Nelson C Soares  1   2 , Karem H Alzoubi  1   2 , Waseem El-Huneidi  2   3 , Yasser Bustanji  2   3 , Sameh S M Soliman  1   2 , Mohammad H Semreen  1   2
Affiliations
Review

COVID-19 Vaccines, Effectiveness, and Immune Responses

Haneen Imad Abufares et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has captivated the globe's attention since its emergence in 2019. This highly infectious, spreadable, and dangerous pathogen has caused health, social, and economic crises. Therefore, a worldwide collaborative effort was made to find an efficient strategy to overcome and develop vaccines. The new vaccines provide an effective immune response that safeguards the community from the virus' severity. WHO has approved nine vaccines for emergency use based on safety and efficacy data collected from various conducted clinical trials. Herein, we review the safety and effectiveness of the WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines and associated immune responses, and their impact on improving the public's health. Several immunological studies have demonstrated that vaccination dramatically enhances the immune response and reduces the likelihood of future infections in previously infected individuals. However, the type of vaccination and individual health status can significantly affect immune responses. Exposure of healthy individuals to adenovirus vectors or mRNA vaccines causes the early production of antibodies from B and T cells. On the other hand, unhealthy individuals were more likely to experience harmful events due to relapses in their existing conditions. Taken together, aligning with the proper vaccination to a patient's case can result in better outcomes.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; effectiveness; immune responses; vaccines.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Development of COVID-19 vaccine in comparison to other vaccines.
Figure 2
Figure 2
COVID-19 whole virus vaccine development.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Development of COVID-19 protein subunit vaccine.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Development of COVID-19 nucleic acid-based vaccine.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Development of COVID-19 viral vector vaccine.
Figure 6
Figure 6
A time-course graph for immunological response in the different vaccination procedures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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