A Comprehensive Review on the Current Vaccines and Their Efficacies to Combat SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Ali A. Rabaan, Abbas Al Mutair, Khalid Hajissa, Amal H. Alfaraj, Jumana M. Al-Jishi, Mashael Alhajri, Sara Alwarthan, Shahab A. Alsuliman, Amal Hassan Al-Najjar, Ibrahim A. Al Zaydani, Ghadeer H. Al-Absi, Sana A. Alshaikh, Mohammed S. Alkathlan, Souad A. Almuthree, Abdulsalam Alawfi, Amer Alshengeti, Fatimah Z. Almubarak, Mohammed S. Qashgari, Areeg N. K. Abdalla, Saad Alhumaid
Abstract
Since the first case of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019, SARS-CoV-2 infection has affected many individuals worldwide. Eventually, some highly infectious mutants-caused by frequent genetic recombination-have been reported for SARS-CoV-2 that can potentially escape from the immune responses and induce long-term immunity, linked with a high mortality rate. In addition, several reports stated that vaccines designed for the SARS-CoV-2 wild-type variant have mixed responses against the variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs) in the human population. These results advocate the designing and development of a panvaccine with the potential to neutralize all the possible emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. In this context, recent discoveries suggest the design of SARS-CoV-2 panvaccines using nanotechnology, siRNA, antibodies or CRISPR-Cas platforms. Thereof, the present comprehensive review summarizes the current vaccine design approaches against SARS-CoV-2 infection, the role of genetic mutations in the emergence of new viral variants, the efficacy of existing vaccines in limiting the infection of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, and efforts or challenges in designing SARS panvaccines.