COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19 vaccine
Vaccine description
TargetSARS-CoV-2
Vaccine typemRNA, viral, inactivated, protein
Clinical data
Routes of
administration		Intramuscular
ATC code
Identifiers
ChemSpider
  • none

How COVID‑19 vaccines work. The video shows the process of vaccination, from injection with RNA or viral vector vaccines, to uptake and translation, and on to immune system stimulation and effect.
Part of a series on the
COVID-19 pandemic
Scientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of SARS-CoV-2. Each "ball" is an atom.
Scientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of SARS-CoV-2. Each "ball" is an atom.
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A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19).

Before the COVID‑19 pandemic, an established body of knowledge existed about the structure and function of coronaviruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). This knowledge accelerated the development of various vaccine platforms in early 2020.[1] The initial focus of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was on preventing symptomatic, often severe, illness.[2] In 2020, the first COVID‑19 vaccines were developed and made available to the public through emergency authorizations[3] and conditional approvals.[4][5] Initially, most COVID‑19 vaccines were two-dose vaccines, with the exception single-dose vaccines Convidecia[6] and the Janssen COVID‑19 vaccine,[3] and vaccines with three-dose schedules, Razi Cov Pars[7] and Soberana.[8] However, immunity from the vaccines has been found to wane over time, requiring people to get booster doses of the vaccine to maintain protection against COVID‑19.[3]

The COVID‑19 vaccines are widely credited for their role in reducing the spread of COVID‑19 and reducing the severity and death caused by COVID‑19.[3][9] According to a June 2022 study, COVID‑19 vaccines prevented an additional 14.4 to 19.8 million deaths in 185 countries and territories from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021.[10] Many countries implemented phased distribution plans that prioritized those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers.[11][12]

Common side effects of COVID‑19 vaccines include soreness, redness, rash, inflammation at the injection site, fatigue, headache, myalgia (muscle pain), and arthralgia (joint pain), which resolve without medical treatment within a few days.[13][14] COVID‑19 vaccination is safe for people who are pregnant or are breastfeeding.[15]

As of 12 August 2024, 13.72 billion doses of COVID‑19 vaccines have been administered worldwide, based on official reports from national public health agencies.[16] By December 2020, more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by countries,[17] with about half of the doses purchased by high-income countries comprising 14% of the world's population.[18]

Despite the extremely rapid development of effective mRNA and viral vector vaccines, worldwide vaccine equity has not been achieved. The development and use of whole inactivated virus (WIV) and protein-based vaccines have also been recommended, especially for use in developing countries.[19][20]

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.[21][22][23]

  1. ^ Li YD, Chi WY, Su JH, Ferrall L, Hung CF, Wu TC (December 2020). "Coronavirus vaccine development: from SARS and MERS to COVID-19". Journal of Biomedical Science. 27 (1): 104. doi:10.1186/s12929-020-00695-2. PMC 7749790. PMID 33341119.
  2. ^ Subbarao K (July 2021). "The success of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and challenges ahead". Cell Host & Microbe. 29 (7): 1111–1123. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2021.06.016. PMC 8279572. PMID 34265245.
  3. ^ a b c d Rogers K (11 May 2022). "COVID-19 vaccine". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Swissmedic grants authorisation for the first COVID-19 vaccine in Switzerland" (Press release). Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic). 18 December 2020. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  5. ^ "EMA recommends first COVID-19 vaccine for authorisation in the EU". European Medicines Agency (EMA) (Press release). 21 December 2020. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  6. ^ "The CanSino Biologics Ad5-nCoV-S [recombinant] COVID-19 vaccine: What you need to know". www.who.int. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  7. ^ Dodaran MS, Banihashemi SR, Es-haghi A, Mehrabadi MH, Nofeli M, Mokarram AR, et al. (16 February 2023). "Immunogenicity and Safety of a Combined Intramuscular/Intranasal Recombinant Spike Protein COVID-19 Vaccine (RCP) in Healthy Adults Aged 18 to 55 Years Old: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Phase I Trial". Vaccines. 11 (2): 455. doi:10.3390/vaccines11020455. PMC 9961243. PMID 36851334.
  8. ^ Puga-Gómez R, Ricardo-Delgado Y, Rojas-Iriarte C, Céspedes-Henriquez L, Piedra-Bello M, Vega-Mendoza D, et al. (January 2023). "Open-label phase I/II clinical trial of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine (FINLAY-FR-2) in combination with receptor binding domain-protein vaccine (FINLAY-FR-1A) in children". International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 126: 164–173. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2022.11.016. PMC 9673084. PMID 36403819. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  9. ^ Mallapaty S, Callaway E, Kozlov M, Ledford H, Pickrell J, Van Noorden R (December 2021). "How COVID vaccines shaped 2021 in eight powerful charts". Nature. 600 (7890): 580–583. Bibcode:2021Natur.600..580M. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-03686-x. PMID 34916666. S2CID 245262732.
  10. ^ Watson OJ, Barnsley G, Toor J, Hogan AB, Winskill P, Ghani AC (June 2022). "Global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination: a mathematical modelling study". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 22 (9): 1293–1302. doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(22)00320-6. PMC 9225255. PMID 35753318.
  11. ^ Beaumont P (18 November 2020). "Covid-19 vaccine: who are countries prioritising for first doses?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  12. ^ Wang H, Xu R, Qu S, Schwartz M, Adams A, Chen X (October 2021). "Health inequities in COVID-19 vaccination among the elderly: Case of Connecticut". Journal of Infection and Public Health. 14 (10): 1563–1565. doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2021.07.013. PMC 8491089. PMID 34326008. S2CID 236515442.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference who-back was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference breastf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Richie H, Ortiz-Ospina E, Beltekian D, Methieu E, Hasell J, Macdonald B, et al. (March 2020). "Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations – Statistics and Research". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  17. ^ Mullard A (November 2020). "How COVID vaccines are being divvied up around the world". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-03370-6. PMID 33257891. S2CID 227246811.
  18. ^ So AD, Woo J (December 2020). "Reserving coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines for global access: cross sectional analysis". BMJ. 371: m4750. doi:10.1136/bmj.m4750. PMC 7735431. PMID 33323376.
  19. ^ Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME (January 2022). "Whole Inactivated Virus and Protein-Based COVID-19 Vaccines". Annual Review of Medicine. 73 (1): 55–64. doi:10.1146/annurev-med-042420-113212. ISSN 0066-4219. PMID 34637324. S2CID 238747462.
  20. ^ Ye Y, Zhang Q, Wei X, Cao Z, Yuan HY, Zeng DD (February 2022). "Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines makes a life-saving difference to all countries". Nature Human Behaviour. 6 (2): 207–216. doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01289-8. PMC 8873023. PMID 35102361.
  21. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023". NobelPrize.org. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Hungarian and US scientists win Nobel for COVID-19 vaccine discoveries". Reuters. 2 October 2023. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  23. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023". NobelPrize.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2023.