Table 1 Advantages and disadvantages of different vaccine platforms

Whole inactivated virus vaccine

Stronger immune response; Safer than live attenuated virus

Potential epitope alteration by inactivation process

Typhoid, Cholera, Hepatitis A virus, Plague, Rabies, Influenza, Polio (Salk)

Live attenuated virus vaccine

Stronger immune response; Preservation of native antigen; Mimicking natural infection

Risk of residual virulence, especially for immunocompromised people

Measles, Mumps, Polio (Sabin), Rota virus, Yellow Fever, Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG), Rubella, Varicella

Viral vector vaccine

Stronger immune response; Preservation of native antigen; Mimicking natural infection

More complicated manufacturing process; Risk of genomic integration; Response dampened by pre-existing immunity against vector

Ebola virus

Subunit vaccine

Safe and well-tolerated

Lower immunogenicity; Requirement of adjuvant or conjugate to increase immunogenicity

Pertussis, Influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae type b

Viral-like particle vaccine

Safe and well-tolerated; mimicking native virus conformation

Lower immunogenicity; More complicated manufacturing process

Hepatitis B virus, Human Papillomavirus

DNA vaccine

Safe and well-tolerated; Stable under room temperature; Highly adaptable to new pathogen; Native antigen expression

Lower immunogenicity; Difficult administration route; Risk of genomic integration

NA

RNA vaccine

Safe and well-tolerated; Highly adaptable to new pathogen; Native antigen expression

Lower immunogenicity; Requirement of low temperature storage and transportation; Potential risk of RNA-induced interferon response

NA