One vaccine could end the pandemic and the common cold — but it doesn't exist yet

A series of vaccines in development could put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic entirely, with the common cold disappearing as a side-effect.

After the vaccines being widely used today were revealed to be less effective in stopping the spread of the Omicron variant than earlier strains of the virus, some talk has now shifted to a pan-coronavirus vaccine.

Such a jab would not only render all COVID-19 mutations ineffective, but also a range of other diseases, including the common cold.

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White House Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci touted the development of such a vaccine earlier this month.

"The importance of developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine, namely one that would be effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants, and ultimately against all coronaviruses, becomes even more apparent," Dr Fauci said.

"We won't be chasing after the next variant."

The problem with vaccines like the COVID-19 ones made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca is the part of the virus they target is vulnerable to mutation.

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"Most of these first-generation vaccines target the whole or the majority of the spike protein," Brisbane's Mater Hospital Director of Infectious Diseases Paul Griffin told 9News.

"With new variants, that is prone to change and can affect the efficacy of our vaccines."

But new COVID-19 vaccines in development target regions in the virus less prone to change.

Dr Griffin is not especially optimistic about a pan-coronavirus vaccine that also immunises people against the common cold.

"There is talks of a true pan-coronavirus vaccine, I think it's too soon to hope for that," he said.

"It might give better protection across new variants."

But a pan-coronavirus vaccine developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the US has shown promise.

Pre-clinical trials in non-human primates have shown the vaccine protects against major variants of COVID-19, as well as the 2002 SARS virus.

"The accelerating emergence of human coronaviruses throughout the past two decades and the rise of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including most recently Omicron, underscore the continued need for next-generation pre-emptive vaccines that confer broad protection against coronavirus diseases," vaccine co-inventor Kayvon Modjarrad said.

"Our strategy has been to develop a 'pan-coronavirus' vaccine technology that could potentially offer safe, effective and durable protection against multiple coronavirus strains and species."

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Early analyses of the Walter Reed vaccine's human trials are expected soon.

Coronaviruses are named after the spike proteins around the edge of the virus, which appear as crowns or wreaths. The Latin word for crown is "corona".

In addition to the common cold and COVID-19, other coronaviruses include SARS and MERS.