Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has now become a serious global threat after inflicting more than 8 million infections and 425,000 deaths in less than 6 months. Currently, no definitive treatment or prevention therapy exists for COVID-19. The unprecedented rise of this pandemic has rapidly fueled research efforts to discover and develop new vaccines and treatment strategies against this novel coronavirus. While hundreds of vaccines/therapeutics are still in the preclinical or early stage of clinical development, a few of them have shown promising results in controlling the infection. Here, in this review, we discuss the promising vaccines and treatment options for COVID-19, their challenges, and potential alternative strategies.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; convalescent plasma; drug repurposing; stem cell therapy; vaccine interventions.