The development of effective countermeasures against
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (
SARS-CoV-2 ), the agent responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is a priority. We designed and produced ConVac, a replication-competent
vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV)
vaccine vector that expresses the S1 subunit of
SARS-CoV-2 spike
protein . We used
golden Syrian hamsters as
animal model of severe COVID-19 to test the
efficacy of the ConVac
vaccine . A single
vaccine dose elicited high levels of
SARS-CoV-2 specific binding and
neutralizing antibodies ; following intranasal challenge with
SARS-CoV-2 ,
animals were protected from
weight loss and
viral replication in the
lungs . No enhanced
pathology was observed in vaccinated
animals upon challenge, but some
inflammation was still detected. The data indicate rapid
control of
SARS-CoV-2 replication by the S1-based VSV-vectored
SARS-CoV-2 ConVac
vaccine .