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. 2019 Jan 14;11(1):59. doi: 10.3390/v11010059

Table 3.

Vaccine strategies of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.

Vaccine Strategy	Process of Production	References		Advantages	Disadvantages
Vaccine Strategy	Process of Production	SARS	MERS	Advantages	Disadvantages
Inactivated virus vaccines	Virus particles are inactivated by heat, chemicals, or radiation	Whole virus, with or without adjuvant (promote an effective immune response against the inactivated pathogen) [93,94]	Whole virus, with or without adjuvant (promote an effective immune response against the inactivated pathogen) [91,95]	Maintained virus particles structure; rapidly develop; easy to prepare; safety; high-titer neutralizing antibodies [93]; protection with adjuvant [96,97].	Potential inappropriate for highly immunosuppressed individuals; possible T_H2 cell-distortive immune response [98,99].
Live-attenuated virus vaccines	Attenuated the virulence, but still keeping it viable by mutagenesis or targeted deletions	Envelope protein deletion [100]; non-structural protein 14 (nsp14) and exonuclease (ExoN) inactivation [101]	Full-length infectious cDNA clone or mutant viruses [102]	Inexpensive; quick immunity; less adverse effect; activates all phases of the immune system [103]; more durable immunity; more targeted [77].	Phenotypic or genotypic reversion possible; need sufficient viral replication [77].
Viral vector vaccines	Genetically engineered unrelated viral genome with deficient packaging elements for encoding targeted gene	Spike and nucleocapsid proteins [100,104]	Spike and nucleocapsid proteins [87,88]	Safety; stronger and specific cellular and humoral immune responses [77].	Varies inoculation routes may produce different immune responses [96]; possibly incomplete protection; may fail in aged vaccinees; possible T_H2 cell-distortive immune response [105].
Subunit vaccines	Antigenic components inducing the immune system without introducing viral particles, whole or otherwise.	Spike and nucleocapsid proteins [53,59,106]	Spike and nucleocapsid proteins [85,86,107,108]	High safety; consistent production; can induce cellular and humoral immune responses; high-titer neutralizing antibodies [109].	Uncertain cost-effectiveness; relatively lower immunogenicity; need appropriate adjuvants [77].
DNA vaccines	Genetically engineered DNA for directly producing an antigen	Spike and nucleocapsid proteins [110,111]	Spike and nucleocapsid proteins [89,90]	Easier to design; high safety; high-titer neutralizing antibodies [110].	Lower immune responses; potential T_H2 cell-distortive immune response results; potential ineffective; possibly delayed-type hypersensitivity [112].