Most treatment and vaccine development have been focused on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. This is chiefly because the spike is the viral protein that mediates SARS-CoV-2’s entry into the host cell.
However, evolving variants have been associated with important mutations in viral spike proteins that could allow them to escape immune responses elicited from both vaccines and natural infection. Developing multivalent prophylactics and therapeutics will thus be crucial in ensuring long-term management of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
