Vaccines are prophylactic drugs used to induce immune memory against specific antigens of pathogens, thereby providing protection against a certain infectious disease. Vector vaccines constitute a relatively new group of vaccines, based on a DNA vehicle (the so-called vector, i.e., either a plasmid or (typically) a replication-defficient viral vector) to deliver genetic information for the vaccine antigen to somatic cells. There are only a few marketed vector vaccines world-wide: two against flaviviruses (Japanese encephalitis and dengue), five against Ebola (three of which (Ervebo, Zabdena and Mvabea) are approved in the EU) and four against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (with Vaxzevria and Jcovden approved in the EU. A single vector vaccine based on a plasmid DNA (ZyCov-D) against the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been authorized in India. In the present thesis, we present data on clinical trials of the above-mentioned vaccines. We describe the research schemes (type of trial, number of participants, strength and number of doses received), as well as the results of the trials (perceived adverse effects and their frequency, immunogenicity and effectiveness of the vaccine). We collected data from scientific papers, searching in PubMed, medRxiv and bioRxiv databases, as well as from the official websites of the regulatory authorities (EMA, FDA, CDC, WHO, JAZMP). In general, vector vaccines were well tolerated by the trial participants and were safe. Adverse effects were largely mild to moderate for all vector vaccines, lasting up to a few days. The most common were pain at the injection site, muscle and joint pain, fever, headache, and fatigue. Serious adverse effects did not occur, or occurred very rarely during clinical trials, but in most cases were not related to the vaccine. However, special attention was paid to the syndromes of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia and capillary leak, which appeared in very rare instances after vaccination with the Jcovden and Vaxzevria vaccines. Vector vaccines have also been shown to be highly immunogenic and effective. More than 90 % of the participants developed antibodies to each of the vaccines. The viral vector vaccine Sputnik V proved to be the most effective, the effectiveness of which was as much as 91,6 %, while the least effective was the Convidecia vaccine, the effectiveness of which was 63,7 %. All other vaccines had very similar effectiveness (70 % - 75 %). Despite the promising results of clinical trials, the future of vector vaccines is threatened by extremely rare but very severe and not yet adequately explained serious adverse effects.
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