Vaccine Overview

Vaccine Overview

Vaccination can be the most efficient and effective measures in controlling the pandemics and save millions of lives. There are currently more than 60 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in clinical development and over 170 in pre-clinical development. The GVN is providing valuable information and resources for COVID-19 vaccines.

Available COVID-19 Vaccines COVID-19 Vaccine Strategies News and Publications

Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 for Vaccine Development

Spike (S) protein plays the most important roles in viral attachment, fusion, and entry.
Receptor binding domain (RBD) of the S protein binds to human ACE2 receptor.
RBD is a target for induction of neutralizing antibodies.
For current COVID-19 vaccine development, the spike protein is expressed by using various platforms to induce immune responses.

Available COVID-19 Vaccines

Company	Type of Vaccine	In Use
Pfizer-BioNTech	mRNA Based	EU, Argentina, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bahrain, US, UK
Moderna	mRNA Based	Canada, Israel, Switzerland, EU, US, UK
Oxford-AstraZeneca	Adenovirus vectored	Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, EU, Iceland, India, Iraq, Kuwait, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, UK
Gamaleya (Sputnik V)	Two different adenoviruses	Algeria, Argentina, Bolivia, Hungary, Palestine, Paraguay, Serbia, Turkmenistan, UAE, and Venezuela, Belarus, Russia.
CanSino Biologics (Petrovax)	Adenovirus vectored	China’s Central Military Commission (military use)
Sinopharm	Inactivated	Bahrain, China, Pakistan, UAE
Sinovac	Inactivated	Brazil, China, Indonesia
Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems	Inactivated	Kazakhstan
Bharat Biotech	Inactivated	India

COVID-19 Vaccine Strategies

Type of Vaccine	How It Works
Messenger RNA based vaccines	Directly deliver the genetic information to the cell for expressing the spike protein into the body The expressed viral protein will induce immune responses.
Viral vectored vaccines	Deliver and express the spike protein using other viruses (vector) These viral vectors are safe to be used as a vaccine (example: adenovirus)
Nanoparticle based vaccines	Direct injection of the spike protein assembled into nanoparticles The protein will be presented to the immune cells to induce the immune responses
DNA based vaccines	Deliver a plasmid encoding the spike protein into the cells The protein will be presented to the immune cells to induce the immune responses
Inactivated vaccines	Classic vaccine approach Use of killed virus particles containing the spike protein but also all other viral proteins
Live-attenuated vaccines	Use of a living but weakened version of a virus (example: measles virus) Mimic a natural infection

News

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine sharply reduces symptomatic Covid-19 in the real world, Israeli researchers say
CNN, USA, February 16, 2021
WHO lists two additional COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use and COVAX roll-out
WHO, February 15, 2021
Covid: Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be tested on children
BBC, UK, February 13, 201

Publications

Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 spike 69/70 deletion, E484K and N501Y variants by BNT162b2 vaccine-elicited sera
Nature Medicine, February 8, 2021 – doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01270-4
Safety and efficacy of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine (AZD1222) against SARS-CoV-2: an interim analysis of four randomised controlled trials in Brazil, South Africa, and the UK.
Lancet, January 9, 2021 – 397(10269):99-111.

Sources for Vaccine Safety and Other Information

WHO Vaccines and immunization: Vaccine safety
CDC Vaccines & Immunizations
CDC Myths and Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines
NIH Vaccines
European Medicine Agency COVID-19 Vaccines
Tracking COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration activities:
Center for Disease Control and Prevention, USA
Johns Hopkins University

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact GVN

Support GVN

Join Our Mailing List