A short discussion about the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-1273 vaccine

•SARS-CoV-2 vaccines must balance efficacy with speed of development.•Vaccines should aim to also establish cellular T-cell immunity.•We encourage industry to publish parameters related to cellular immunity.•Discussion of vaccine candidates from Moderna, Pfizer and BioNtech. The COVID-19 global pandemic has prompted accelerated vaccine development efforts. This perspective discusses the importance of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates’ recruitment of cellular T-cell immunity and encourages industry to increasingly investigate and publish parameters related to cellular immunity in their research reports.