page_title: COVID-19 vaccine
section_title: Technology platforms
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 vaccine / Technology platforms
caption_attribution_description: This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report: &lt;a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-20-583SP" rel="noreferrer nofollow"&gt;www.gao.gov/products/GAO-20-583SP&lt;/a&gt; SCIENCE &amp; TECH SPOTLIGHT: COVID-19 Vaccine Development
context_page_description: A COVID‑19 vaccine is a biotechnology product intended to provide acquired immunity against coronavirus disease 2019. As of August 2020, there were 233 vaccine candidates in development, although no candidate has completed clinical trials to prove its safety and efficacy. In August, at least 27 vaccine candidates were in clinical trials, with six beginning Phase III and 21 still in Phase I–II.
  Previous work to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus diseases SARS and MERS established considerable knowledge about the structure and function of coronaviruses – which accelerated rapid development during early 2020 of varied technology platforms for a COVID‑19 vaccine.
  The World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the Gates Foundation are committing money and organizational resources for the prospect that several vaccines will be needed to prevent continuing COVID‑19 infection. The CEPI, which is organizing a US$2 billion worldwide fund for rapid investment and development of vaccine candidates, indicated in April that a vaccine may be available under emergency use protocols in less than twelve months or by early 2021.
context_section_description: In April, CEPI scientists reported that ten different technology platforms were under research and development during early 2020 to create an effective vaccine against COVID‑19. According to CEPI, the platforms based on DNA or messenger RNA, i.e. DNA vaccines or RNA vaccines, offer considerable promise to alter COVID‑19 antigen functions for strong immune responses, and can be rapidly assessed, refined for long-term stability, and prepared for large-scale production capacity. Other platforms being developed in 2020 focus on non-replicating viral vectors, peptides, recombinant proteins, live attenuated viruses, and inactivated viruses.
  In general, the vaccine technologies being developed for COVID‑19 are not like vaccines already in use to prevent influenza, but rather are using "next-generation" strategies for precision on the COVID‑19 infection mechanisms, while hastening development for eventually preventing infection with a new vaccine. Vaccine platforms in development are also designed to address mechanisms for infection susceptibility to COVID‑19 in specific population subgroups, such as the elderly, children, pregnant women, and people with existing weakened immune systems.
  One or more candidates in Phase II or Phase II–III trials
caption: Potential candidates for forming SARS-CoV-2 proteins to prompt an immune response
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