A review of SARS-CoV-2 virology, vaccines, variants and their impact on the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

A novel coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread in Wuhan, China, and caused the global pandemic infectious disease. This disease has been known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It continued to spread around the world and created outrageous effects on the healthcare and economic system throughout the world. Various strategies have been designed to diminish the morbidity and mortality of this infectious disease. Among them, the development of vaccines is the most effective method to prevent and treat the viral infection. Novel vaccines have been developed and proved to be effective in multiple clinical reports indicating a significant decline in the risk of COVID-19 infection. However, the emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 with immune-evasive characteristics raised questions concerning the effectiveness of the vaccines. This review provides a brief introduction to developed vaccines, as well as emerging variant strains and vaccine effectiveness against these variants. In this article, we also reviewed the general biological features of SARS-CoV-2 and its pathogenesis and explained the clinical symptoms, transmission, diagnostic and treatment approaches to monitor and control emerging COVID-19 infection.