SARS-CoV-2 is the etiologic agent of the current COVID-19 pandemic which has wreaked unprecedented economic and healthcare calamity. It is a deadly virus belonging to the Coronaviridae family, with high sequence similarity to the 2003 SARS epidemic coronavirus. The global race to produce vaccines to stem the disease-as well as the public health urgency-has spurred tremendous growth in the litany of literature which attempts to uncover the enigma of this deadly virus. Amidst this evergrowing list of literature , this paper seeks to concisely elaborate on key progresses made in the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 in the realms of its life cycle, epidemiology, methods for detection, and vaccine research into an easily assimilable paper for readers.