The Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines as of 12 November 2020 reports 48 candidates in clinical trials ( Table 1) and 164 others in the preclinical stage. The initiatives involve hundreds of countries, public-private partnerships, multinational pharmaceuticals, and biotech companies. The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to a global race for the development of vaccines and treatments in record time. The worldwide efforts to develop an effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 and protect against the COVID-19 disease, have driven many collaborations, along with unprecedented governmental support, leading to hundreds of strategies in pre-clinical and clinical evaluations and so far, eight vaccine candidates are in phase III clinical trials, the last before registration ( WHO, 2020a WHO (2020a) Draft landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines, WHO (2020a) Draft landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines, (accessed 29 November 2020) The cost-effectiveness of a vaccine in this scenario is indisputable. The rate at which the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread through the world and shutdown country borders, industries and local businesses, only reinforces the importance of vaccines in disease control. By January, it had been identified as a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, leading to COVID-19 disease) and crossed the Chinese borders. The first cases of an “unknown cause” of pneumonia were reported in December 2019, to the WHO office in China. (2008) Vaccination greatly reduces disease, disability, death and inequity worldwide. Other advantages include the protection of the non-vaccinated population (herd immunity), against related and unrelated diseases, healthcare savings, prevention of antibiotic resistance, and extension of life expectancy ( Andre et al., 2008 Andre FE, Booy R, Bock HL, Clemens J, Datta SK, John TJ, Lee BW, Lolekha S, Peltola H, Ruff TA, et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 369:20130433.). Furthermore, vaccination can be used to control mortality, morbidity, and mitigate disease severity ( Greenwood, 2014 Greenwood B (2014) The contribution of vaccination to global health: past, present and future. The eradication of smallpox allowed the discontinuation of routine immunization. Ideally, it targets the complete eradication of the pathogen so it cannot re-emerge. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the benefits of vaccination go beyond the individual protection provided by the vaccine against the targeted pathogen. It has successfully reduced the burden of infectious diseases worldwide. Vaccination is one of the most important human achievements in biomedical sciences. SARS-CoV-2 vaccine immunization strategies Established competence and collaborations will allow preparedness for future challenges and can also be used to address local issues as neglected infectious diseases. Impressive collaboration between institutions will support further developments until we have available a safe, effective, and economically viable vaccine. Expertise in vaccine development in Brazil was refocused to the new coronavirus. Therefore the importance of continuing investigations on a broad range of strategies. Previous experience in vaccine development for other pathogens shows that differences in vaccine formulation can result in diverse immune responses and consequently, different protective properties. Although there is a very high expectation for the effectiveness of the most advanced vaccine candidates, there are still no established correlates of protection. Classic and new technologies, such as inactivated and attenuated viruses (non-replicative and replicative), DNA and mRNA vaccines, and nanoparticles containing SARS-CoV-2 antigens, are some of the strategies currently investigated. The most advanced strategies have focused on modifications of technologies that were already under development for other viruses, such as SARS, MERS, and even Influenza. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic calls for coordinated efforts by the scientific community for the development of vaccines.
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