The U.S. rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is reportedly ramping up with news that nearly all available doses will soon be released to the American public.

"The new COVID-19 variants are traveling quickly, and this is a warning that we need to take precautions," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group.

Dr. Poland says these new variants are a consequence of an RNA virus being transmitted from human to human. "Even after we get our vaccines, we still need to wear masks out in public. We still need to maintain physical distancing. And we still need to wash our hands until about 80% of people get their COVID-19 vaccines," Dr. Poland emphasizes.

In this Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Poland goes into detail about the COVID-19 vaccines, including "sterilizing immunity," testing for antibodies after receiving the vaccine, the possibility of booster doses in the future and much more.

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Watch: Drs. Poland and Gazelka talk about the latest COVID-19 vaccine news.

For everyone's safety, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in an area not designated for patient care, where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.

Information in this post was accurate at the time of its posting. Due to the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific understanding, along with guidelines and recommendations, may have changed since the original publication date. 

Dr. Poland has served as a consultant for Merck & Co., Medicago Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Sanofi Pasteur, Emergent BioSolutions Inc., Dynavax Technologies Corporation, Genentech Inc., Eli Lilly and Co., Janssen Pharmaceutical Inc., Kentucky BioProcessing Inc. and Genevant Sciences Corporation. Honoraria: Elsevier.

For more information and all your COVID-19 coverage, go to the Mayo Clinic News Network and mayoclinic.org.

Learn more about: Tracking COVID-19 and COVID-19 trends.

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