Vaccines are biological preparations that confer active acquired immunity against specific pathogens by presenting the immune system with antigens, derived from or resembling a disease-causing agent, that prime adaptive responses without causing the disease itself. On administration they stimulate the production of …
Vaccines are biological preparations that confer active acquired immunity against specific pathogens by presenting the immune system with antigens, derived from or resembling a disease-causing agent, that prime adaptive responses without causing the disease itself. On administration they stimulate the production of antigen-specific antibodies and memory B and T cells, enabling rapid and effective defense upon subsequent natural exposure. Vaccine platforms include inactivated and live-attenuated agents, protein-subunit and conjugate vaccines, viral-vector constructs, and nucleic-acid vaccines such as messenger RNA, each differing in immunogenicity, stability, and manufacturing. Beyond individual protection, widespread vaccination reduces transmission and can establish population-level herd immunity, a principle central to the control of epidemics, while the durability of protection is challenged by waning immunity and pathogen evolution that may necessitate updated formulations. For coronaviruses, vaccines targeting the spike glycoprotein have been deployed against SARS-CoV-2, accompanied by study of dosing, immune dynamics, and safety. The peer-reviewed research collected under this topic spans COVID-19 vaccine dynamics and dosing models, herd-immunity and infection modeling, immune and cytokine responses to spike protein, viral evolution and mutation prediction, and broader analyses of vaccination in pandemic response. Understanding vaccines, their immunological mechanisms, platforms, and population effects, is foundational to immunology, virology, and public health, underpinning the prevention and control of infectious disease.
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 12 articles above have been cited 21 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Vaccines, linking to each citing work.