Rapidly Evolving SARS-CoV-2: A Brief Review Regarding the Variants and their Effects on Vaccine Efficacies


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Abstract

Since the commencement of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has resulted in millions of mortalities globally, the efforts to minimize the damages have equally been up to the task. One of those efforts includes the mass vaccine development initiative targeting the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). So far, vaccines have tremendously decreased the rate of transmission and infection in most parts of the world. However, the repeated resurgence of different types of mutated versions of the virus, also known as variants, has somehow created uncertainties about the efficacies of different types of vaccines. This review discusses some of the interesting SARS-CoV-2 features, including general structure, genomics, and mechanisms of variants development and their consequent immune escape. This review also focuses very briefly on antigenic drift, shift, and vaccine-developing platforms.

About the authors

Shahid Nawaz

Institute of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab

Email: info@benthamscience.net

Sara Janiad

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Women University Multan

Author for correspondence.
Email: info@benthamscience.net

Aiman Fatima

Institute of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab

Email: info@benthamscience.net

Maira Saleem

Institute of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab

Email: info@benthamscience.net

Urooj Fatima

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, The Women University Multan

Email: info@benthamscience.net

Asad Ali

Institute of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab

Email: info@benthamscience.net

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