Abstract
Vaccines are one of the most effective means of preventing viral infections. Since Edward Jenner invented the world’s first vaccine in 1796, against smallpox, various types of vaccine have been developed, including inactivated vaccines, attenuated live vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, viral vector vaccines and nucleic acid vaccines. Viral vector vaccines and nucleic acid vaccines （mRNA vaccines and DNA vaccines） have been developed most recently. In these vaccines, genes encoding viral proteins that serve as antigens are introduced into the body. The viral vector is an excellent vaccine delivery system that efficiently delivers antigen genes to target cells, and has been utilized for vaccine development against a variety of emerging infectious diseases, including AIDS, malaria, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, dengue fever, and most recently COVID-19. Here, we provide an overview of viral vector vaccines and discuss recent efforts to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases.
