COVID-19 vaccines

•COVID-19 vaccine development has accelerated at an incredible rate with 105 vaccines in clinical development and 18 approved for emergency use.•This is the first time in the history of vaccinology that a nucleic acid vaccine has been approved for use in public health programs.•More than 40 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were being administered each day worldwide, with a small proportion in low-income countries. COVID-19 is a pandemic of unprecedented proportions in recent human history. Less than 18 months since the onset of the pandemic, there are close to two hundred million confirmed cases and four million deaths worldwide. There have also been massive efforts geared towards finding safe and effective vaccines. By July 2021 there were 184 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in pre-clinical development, 105 in clinical development, and 18 vaccines approved for emergency use by at least one regulatory authority. These vaccines include whole virus live attenuated or inactivated, protein-based, viral vector, and nucleic acid vaccines. By mid-2021 three billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered around the world, mostly in high-income countries. COVID-19 vaccination provides hope for an end to the pandemic, if and only if there would be equal access and optimal uptake in all countries around the world.