The present invention relates to vaccines comprising at least one compound which comprises at least one antigenic determinant or epitope of polyomavirus capsid protein (VP1), wherein the antigenic determinant or epitope is a CD8+ T cell epitope, preferably HLA-A2-restricted or HLA-B7-restricted. The present invention furthermore relates to nucleic acids encoding the compound(s) and the use of the vaccines and nucleic acids for the prevention and/or treatment of an infection or reactivation with polyoma virus(es), such as in case of immunosupression. The present invention furthermore relates to methods for the prevention and/or treatment of an infection or reactivation with polyoma viruses, comprising the step of administering a vaccine, nucleic acid or compound of the invention to a subject in need thereof.