2025, Vol. 5, Issue 2, Part B

In December 2019, Wuhan, China, was the emerging site of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which subsequently spread globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 is a contagious virus belonging to the Betacoronavirus genus and possesses single-stranded RNA as its genetic material. Variants of SARS-CoV-2, such as P.1, contain mutations in the virus’ spike protein, which may result in a decreased effectiveness of treatments that use vaccines or monoclonal antibodies.

The pandemic has negatively impacted not only the virology of SARS-CoV-2, but also the psychological health of individuals, with increased levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder in people with pre-existing conditions. The education system encountered many challenges as a result of the pandemic; therefore, there was an urgent need to transition from traditional methods of learning to having online learning platforms. New vaccine types that have been developed due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been classified into five categories: Whole Virus, Protein based (Subunit), Viral Vector, and Nucleic Acid (DNA/AIDS) vaccines. While all vaccines have an acceptable level of safety, the most commonly encountered adverse events associated with these vaccines are fatigue; muscle pain; headache; fever; and injection site reactions. Less frequently, potentially life threatening or serious adverse effects can occur such as anaphylactic reactions or thrombocytopenia.