Abstract: The present disclosure provides polypeptides derived from SARS-CoV-2 which have therapeutic use. One such polypeptide is a polypeptide, referred to as “Npep2,” is derived from the SARS-CoV-2 protein N and has at least 50 consecutive amino acids of the amino acid sequence having at least 90% identity with the amino acid sequence that ranges from the residue at position 276 to the residue at position 411 of SEQ ID NO:2. Further described are conjugates wherein a heterologous polypeptide is conjugated or fused to Npep2. The present disclosure further provides vaccines employing the polypeptides, polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides, and methods of vaccinating subjects against SARS-CoV-2 by administering a therapeutically effective amount of one or more of the polypeptides.