Hepatitis C vaccines: how close are we to the promised land?

A vaccination strategy for the prevention of hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains an important goal for the global elimination of HCV. An HCV vaccine would have major benefits for people at risk of HCV infection and would be a major contributor, possibly essential for population strategies that aim to eliminate infection. Current vaccine efforts primarily utilize either the antibody response to structural HCV proteins or a T‐cell response targeting the HCV genome more widely. T‐cell vaccines aim to abort acute infection and prevent the development of chronic disease. While the exact immune correlates of protection against HCV are not fully understood, both B‐cell and T‐cell immunity are associated with spontaneous resolution of HCV infection. Therefore, a combination of approaches in an HCV vaccine strategy to harness T‐cell and B‐cell responses may provide the best chance of successfully clearing an acute HCV infection.