Visually Explained: How Exactly Are Vaccines Developed?

Supriya Kamath
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Within a few months of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, laboratories around the world had successfully developed vaccine technologies and begun clinical trials. Some months after that, vaccine manufacturing and distribution had entered full swing. Today, just over a year later, about 4.2% of the world’s population has been fully inoculated.

The pace of vaccine development has been extraordinary, but what was going on behind the scenes? What goes into designing a vaccine, and ensuring that it is safe & effective?

This May, we want to help you visualize stages in the development of a vaccine, from its theoretical basis to clinical testing, production and delivery. 

Scientists from around the world — including immunologists and vaccine scientists — publish step-by-step video demonstrations of their research methods in JoVE Journal. We’ve brought together a selection of these peer-reviewed video articles, spanning different phases of the vaccine innovation process, in a special playlist. 

Explore ‘Vaccines’, our featured playlist of the month, here

Have students or colleagues who might like to learn more about vaccine development? Let them know! This month, all the videos in this featured playlist can be accessed with or without a JoVE subscription.