Bibliometric analysis of the highly cited publications in COVID-19 vaccine.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had widespread effects across the globe and continues to affect global public health. This study aims to select and feature highly cited publications on the COVID-19 vaccine. The Web of Science core database was used to extract relevant articles published in recent years. Progress of vaccine studies made in recent two years has mainly focused on the development of different vaccines and the evaluation of their safety and efficacy for population immunity. Clinical trials mainly focusing on the safety and efficacy of diverse vaccines have flourished. Lipid nanoparticle-formulated, nucleoside-modified RNA vaccine and recombinant adenovirus type-5 (26) vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are most commonly studied. Vaccine application-associated challenges mainly include antibody resistance of new variants and unusual severe complications. The correlation between booster immunizations and reinfection is still in the explored state. Currently, antibody resistance of emerging variants is the main vaccine application-associated challenge and the primary reason for vaccine hesitancy. Effective strategies for reinfection prevention are also urgently needed.