Research progress and challenges to coronavirus vaccine development

Abstract

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are nonsegmented, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA viruses highly pathogenic to humans. Some CoVs are known to cause respiratory and intestinal diseases, posing a threat to the global public health. Against this backdrop, it is of critical importance to develop safe and effective vaccines against these CoVs. This review discusses human vaccine candidates in any stage of development and explores the viral characteristics, molecular epidemiology, and immunology associated with CoV vaccine development. At present, there are many obstacles and challenges to vaccine research and development, including the lack of knowledge about virus transmission, pathogenesis, and immune response, absence of the most appropriate animal models.

Keywords: animal model; coronavirus; receptor-binding domain; spike protein; vaccine.