Int J Biol Sci
-
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is now a global pandemic that has wreaked havoc globally, which has put a heavy toll on public health, lives, and the world economy. Vaccination is considered as one of the greatest successes in medical history. ⋯ China is regarded as one of the world's leading countries in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development, up to date the last inactivated vaccine international clinical (Phase III) trial was launched in the United Arab Emirates by Sinopharm China National Biotec Group (CNBG). In this review, we outline the current status of vaccine development against clinically relevant SARS-CoV-2 strains, anticipating that such attempts would help create efficacious and sage SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
-
The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The pandemic apparently started in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since affected many countries worldwide, turning into a major global threat. Chinese researchers reported that SARS-CoV-2 could be classified into two major variants. ⋯ There were 149 mutations in 103 sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomes, 83 of which were nonsynonymous, leading to alteration in the amino acid sequence of proteins. Much effort is currently being devoted to elucidate whether or not these mutations affect viral transmissibility and virulence. In this review, we summarize the mutations in SARS-CoV-2 during the early phase of virus evolution and discuss the significance of the gene alterations in infections.