Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging human coronavirus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a predominantly respiratory disease that has become a global pandemic. Millions of people worldwide are suffering from COVID-19, and hundreds of thousands of those infected have died. Nevertheless, many more people who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 are asymptomatic or suffer a mild disease characterized by dry cough and mild fever. This new pandemic poses a threat to public health on a global scale, and an intervention to prevent continued spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus is of the utmost importance. To assess preventive and therapeutic strategies, it is imperative to understand the pathogenesis and immune response against SARS-CoV-2. In this review, we concentrate on the protective adaptive immune response elicited by this novel coronavirus as well as requirements for a successful vaccine inducing optimal protection.