From:  Immune responses induced by different vaccine platforms against coronavirus disease-19

Vaccine platforms and their potential advantages and disadvantages [22]

Vaccine platformAdvantagesDisadvantagesExisting vaccine examples
Live-attenuated

  • Strong and long-lasting immune response

  • Broad antigenic profile

  • Potential risk of disease

  • Requirement for biosafety facilities

  • Smallpox

  • Tuberculosis (BCG)

  • Measles

  • Polio (OPV)

Inactivated

  • Broad antigenic profile

  • Reduced immune response

  • Requirement for biosafety facilities

  • Lower purity

  • Hepatitis A

  • Polio (IPV)

  • Rabies

  • Influenza

Protein subunit

  • Noninfectious

  • Targeting key antigens

  • Limited capability in inducing cell-mediated immunity

  • Adjuvant often needed

  • Challenges in large-scale production

  • Hepatitis B (HBV)

  • DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis)

VLP

  • Noninfectious

  • Broad antigenic profile

  • Limited immunogenicity

  • Lower purity

  • Hepatitis B (HBV)

  • Papillomavirus (HPV)

Nonreplicating viral vector

  • Fast to produce

  • Reusable platform

  • Strong in both cell- and antibody-mediated immune response

  • Pre-existing immunity against the vector

  • Risk of adverse reactions

N.A.
Replicating viral vector

  • Fast to produce

  • Lower doses/single dose

  • Reusable platform

  • Strong in both cell- and antibody-mediated immune response

  • Less infectious

  • Pre-existing immunity against the vector

  • Risk of adverse reactions

  • Ebola (EUA)

DNA

  • Fast to produce

  • Scalable

  • Noninfectious

  • Reusable platform

  • Stable at room temperature

  • May need special delivery devices

N.A.
mRNA

  • Fast to produce

  • Noninfectious

  • No genome integration risk

  • Reusable platform

  • Stimulates strong T cell response

  • Simple formulation

  • May need extremely low temperature for storage and transportation

  • May need special delivery system

  • COVID-19 (EUA)

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N.A.: data not reported, EUA: Emergency Use Authorization; BCG: Bacille Calmette-Guerin; OPV: oral poliovirus vaccine; IPV: inactivated polio vaccine; DTP: diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis

Note. Reprinted from “A comprehensive review of the global efforts on COVID-19 vaccine development” by Li Y, Tenchov R, Smoot J, Liu C, Watkins S, Zhou Q. ACS Cent Sci. 2021;7:512–33. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8029445/). CC BY ND.