Novel Technology and Vaccines Development for COVID-19

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic has lasted for 2 years, caused millions of deaths and unprecedented damage to the global economy. At present, several vaccines have been approved to control the pandemic. However, SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen of COVID-19, has broken through the defenses of some vaccines due to its rapid mutations, such as the Delta and Omicron variants. Although it is encouraging that vaccination alleviates the severity of COVID-19, a sequelae that causes potential damage to the nervous system remain a considerable threat to human health. Additionally, the continuous mutation of SARS-COV-2 is challenging the efficacy of applied vaccines.  Therefore, it is urgently necessary to develop convenient, self-usable diagnostics or prevention tools based on mucosal technology in order to reduce side effects and increase accessibility. The fight against COVID-19 continues; therefore, it is crucial that we make progress regarding the development, improvement and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. 

We are pleased to invite you to share your latest research in the form of ideas, strategies, techniques, animal studies or clinical trials in development of novel technology, as well as vaccines for COVID-19. 

This Special Issue aims to focus the new strategies in development of COVID-19 vaccines. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

1. The progress in the designs, evaluations, and clinical trials in novel vaccines against SARS-CoV-2;
2. The development of universal vaccines to overcome SARS-CoV-2 variation;
3. The principles of escape neutralization caused by variation;
4. The models applied to evaluate vaccines in vitro or in vivo;
5. The novel tools for COVID-19 prevention and control to target immunogen sites;
6. The identification of universal or new immunogen targets of SARS-CoV-2. 

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Chang Li
Dr. Penghua Wang
Prof. Dr. Bin Zhou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2
• strategy
• vaccine
• protection efficacy
• clinical trials