Affiliation:
1. Institute of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
2. Department of
Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Women University Multan, Multan, Pakistan
Abstract
Abstract:
Since the commencement of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which
has resulted in millions of mortalities globally, the efforts to minimize the damages have equally
been up to the task. One of those efforts includes the mass vaccine development initiative targeting
the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). So far, vaccines have
tremendously decreased the rate of transmission and infection in most parts of the world. However,
the repeated resurgence of different types of mutated versions of the virus, also known as variants,
has somehow created uncertainties about the efficacies of different types of vaccines. This review
discusses some of the interesting SARS-CoV-2 features, including general structure, genomics, and
mechanisms of variants development and their consequent immune escape. This review also focuses
very briefly on antigenic drift, shift, and vaccine-developing platforms.
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Reference81 articles.
1. Zhu N.; Zhang D.; Wang W.; A novel coronavirus from patients with pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med 2020,382(8),727-733
2. Vanden Eynde J.J.; COVID-19: A brief overview of the discovery clinical trial. Pharmaceuticals 2020,13(4),65
3. Gorbalenya A.E.; Baker S.C.; Baric R.S.; The species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus: classifying 2019-nCoV and naming it SARS-CoV-2. Nat Microbiol 2020,5(4),536-544
4. Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it. Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the- (Accessed on: June 13, 2021).
5. Nhamo G.; Chikodzi D.; Kunene H.P.; Mashula N.; COVID-19 vaccines and treatments nationalism: Challenges for low-income countries and the attainment of the SDGs. Glob Public Health 2021,16(3),319-339