Challenges and prospects of COVID‐19 vaccine development based on the progress made in SARS and MERS vaccine development

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID‐19 as a pandemic has shaken the global health system and economy by their roots. This epidemic is still spreading and showing no signs of decreasing trend. Vaccination could be the only effective and economical means to control this pandemic. A number of research institutions and pharmaceutical companies have plunged into the race of vaccine development against COVID‐19 which are in various stages of development. An intriguing fact of coronavirus infections is that in every decade of 21 st century there is a new major coronavirus epidemic viz . SARS in 2002, MERS in 2012, and now COVID‐19; and such epidemics are expected in future too. Since, maximum biological characteristics of SARS‐CoV‐2 are still obscure, the scientists are relying on the information available on SARS‐CoV and to some extent on MERS‐CoV for designing and development of COVID‐19 vaccines. But there is a need of vigorous testing for immunogenicity, safety, efficacy, and level of protection conferred in the hosts. This review focuses on the challenges and prospects of vaccine development against COVID‐19. It highlights seriousness, bottlenecks in vaccine development, possible vaccine candidates, different vaccine strategies, safety evaluation issues, and vaccine production process pertaining to COVID‐19 based on the knowledge acquired on SARS and MERS vaccine development in the past.

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“…Several countries and pharma giants in the world are working to come out with either vaccines or drugs which will be helpful in containing this global pandemic (Begum et al 2020). In India, attempts were made to address this problem through Ayurveda and Siddha practices as well apart from development of drugs and vaccines, which were still widely used among the Indian population to combat diseases caused by viral infections such as jaundice, malaria, cholera, etc.…”

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“…The COVID-19 pandemic is now one of the worst challenges the modern medicine has ever encountered ( 6 ). The viral infection grew to a pandemic scale in less than three months involving the whole world.…”

“…The viral infection grew to a pandemic scale in less than three months involving the whole world. It is unlikely that an effective treatment or vaccine would become available in the near future ( 6 ). This would be the biggest healthcare challenge in the Fall and Winter of 2020 when a seasonal H1N1 influenza outbreak may occur concurrently with the COVID-19 pandemic ( 7 ).…”

“…It is unlikely that a vaccine or standard treatment for COVID-19 will become available by Fall or Winter 2020 ( 5 , 6 ). More importantly, seasonal flu outbreak can exist concurrently with the COVID-19 pandemic ( 7 ).…”

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“…An alternative to this approach was the use of a nebulizer but it showed a reduction in virus titer after delivery. Therefore, delivery of vaccines via injections delivery is generally preferred for COVID-19 vaccines (Iqbal Yatoo et al, 2020); (Begum et al, 2020).…”