SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: status report
Fatima Amanat 1,2 and Florian Krammer2
1Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
2Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of COVID-19, first emerged in late 2019 in China. It has since infected more than 170,000 individuals and caused more than 6500 deaths globally. Here we discuss therapeutic and prophylactic interventions for SARS-CoV-2 with a focus on vaccine development and its challenges. Vaccines are being rapidly developed but will likely come too late to have an impact on the first wave of a potential pandemic. Nevertheless, important lessons can be learned for the development of vaccines against rapidly emerging viruses. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines will be essential to reducing morbidity and mortality if the virus establishes itself in the population.
