pharmaceuticals Review COVID-19 Vaccines: A Review of the Safety and Efficacy of Current Clinical Trials Zhi-Peng Yan 1,*,† , Ming Yang 2,† and Ching-Lung Lai 1,* 1 Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China 2 Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] (Z.-P.Y.);
[email protected] (C.-L.L.); Tel.: +852-2255-4252 (C.-L.L.); Fax: +852-2816-2863 (C.-L.L.) † Co-first authors. Abstract: Various strategies have been designed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them, vaccine development is high on the agenda in spite of the unknown duration of the protection time. Various vaccines have been under clinical trials with promising results in different countries. The protective efficacy and the short-term and long-term side effects of the vaccines are of major concern. Therefore, comparing the protective efficacy and risks of vaccination is essential for the global control of COVID-19 through herd immunity. This study reviews the most recent data of 12 vaccines to evaluate their efficacy, safety profile and usage in various populations. Citation: Yan, Z.-P.; Yang, M.; Lai, C.-L. COVID-19 Vaccines: A Review Keywords: COVID-19; vaccine; safety; efficacy; herd immunity of the Safety and Efficacy of Current Clinical Trials. Pharmaceuticals 2021, 14, 406. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ph14050406 1. Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus Academic Editor: Juan Carlos Saiz 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Up till February 2021 it had infected more than 110 million patients, causing 2.4 million deaths worldwide, according to data recorded by the World Health Received: 25 March 2021 Organization (WHO) [1].