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Pneumonia of unknown etiology was detected in a few patients in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The causative agent was named as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the World Health Organization (WHO). The disease caused by this virus was named as a new coronavirus disease: COVID-19. The disease has a global impact affecting more than 200 nations including the USA, India, Brazil, Russia, and Peru are the 5 most severely affected nations. The discovery of the genotype and phenotype of SARS-CoV-2 boosted the global efforts for the development of treatment options and vaccines for the COVID-19. As the transmission of the virus is rapid, to protect the global population, the development of an effective vaccine against the virus is very essential. The current review highlights the various platforms and technologies used globally for the development of the vaccine and also focuses on the current status of the vaccine candidates under development by organizations to combat the global threat of COVID-19 pandemic.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune systemic disorder of unknown etiology and is characterized by chronic inflammation and synovial infiltration of immune cells. RA is associated with decreased life expectancy and quality of life. The research on RA is greatly simplified by animal models that help us to investigate the complex system involving inflammation, immunological tolerance and autoimmunity. The animal models of RA with a proven track record of predictability for efficacy in humans include: collagen type II induced arthritis in rats as well as mice, adjuvant induced arthritis in rats and antigen induced arthritis in several species. The development of novel treatments for RA requires the interplay between clinical observations and studies in animal models. However, each model features a different mechanism driving the disease expression; the benefits of each should be evaluated carefully in making the appropriate choice for the scientific problem to be investigated. In this review article, we focus on animal models of arthritis induced in various species along with the genetic models. The review also discussed the similarity and dissimilarities with respect to human RA.