A comprehensive review on the global efforts on vaccines and repurposed drugs for combating COVID-19

The recently discovered coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, is a highly contagious and potentially lethal viral infection that was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Since the beginning of the pandemic, an unprecedented number of COVID-19 vaccine candidates have been investigated for their potential to manage the pandemic. Herein, we reviewed vaccine development and the associated research effort, both traditional and forward-looking, to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of their technology, in addition to their efficacy limitations against mutant SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, we report repurposed drug discovery, which mainly focuses on virus-based and host-based targets, as well as their inhibitors. SARSCoV-2 targets include the main protease (Mpro), and RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp), which are the most well-studied and conserved across coronaviruses, enabling the development of broad-spectrum inhibitors of these enzymes.

Automated summary

The recently discovered coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is highly contagious and potentially lethal, and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. Since the beginning of the pandemic, numerous COVID-19 vaccine candidates have been investigated for their potential to manage the crisis. This article reviews vaccine development and associated research efforts, as well as repurposed drug discovery targeting the main protease and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2.