Dosing & Uses
COVID-19 Disease Prevention
Pending FDA approval for prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
Several vaccines are in late phase 3 clinical trials in the United States
Pharmacology
Mechanism of Action
The goal of vaccination is to elicit long-term antigen-specific antibody responses by plasma cells and to develop persistent T-cell and B-cell memory of the antigen (ie, humoral and cellular immune response)
A portion of the viral antigen from the spike (S) protein is used to create the vaccine; once vaccinated, an immune response is elicited to the protein subunit
Vaccine contains an adjuvant (ie, saponin-based Matrix-MTM) to enhance immune response and stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies