CD8A and COVID-19: Our review recollects, discusses and puts into a translational perspective all available experimental data supporting these “hot” concepts, with special emphasis on the structural constraints that limit SARS-CoV-2 S-protein evolution and on potentially invariant and degenerate CD8 epitopes that lend themselves as excellent candidates for the rational development of next-generation, CD8 T-cell response-reinforced, COVID-19 vaccines.