Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected people in 2019 and caused mild to severe disease with severe acute respiratory syndrome and multiorgan failure. Developing novel therapeutics and a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 requires an understanding of the similarities and differences between the various human coronaviruses with regards to their phylogenic relationships, transmission, and management. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that humans were first infected with SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019 and the virus rapidly spread from the outbreak epicenter in Wuhan, China to various parts of the world. Multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 have now been identified in particular regions.

Several drugs have been tested in clinical trials within a short period of time, and a few valuable drugs have been identified to reduce the severity and mortality in subgroups of patients (e.g., remdesvir, dexamethasone). An unprecedented accelerated vaccine development programs have resulted in the development of highly successful vaccines with a very short period of time. The recently developed RNA virus vaccine proved to be highly successful, and amenable for rapid modifications to generate vaccines against mutant viruses. Other classical approaches including viral vector based-based, protein-based and attenuated vaccines have also shown sufficient efficacy and approved for human use. Multiple waves with different mutant viruses happened in most of the countries all around the World. The vaccination very effectively controlled the spread of the disease, together with several civic actions.

The pandemic is receding in most part of the World, and possible mutant viruses appearing periodically and vaccine-based control of such outbreaks are likely to happen for some time to come.