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Ramping up COVID-19 vaccination rate in race against virus

May 5, 2021 | Jennifer O'Hara | @jenohara | Comments (19)

COVID-19 cases are falling in the U.S. because 245 million doses of one of the available COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, according to Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. "But at the same time, there are still people who need more information about the safety and the value of getting a COVID-19 vaccine," says Dr. Poland.

While still hopeful, Dr. Poland says he's concerned herd immunity won't be reached in the U.S. through vaccination. And that will mean more tragic deaths due to COVID-19 infection.

"My guess is, because we're such an interconnected global community until everybody's safe, none of us are safe. And we're going to likely see continued circulation of the virus, and that virus will seek out whoever is not immune," says Dr. Poland.

In this Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Poland also addresses when we will need COVID-19 vaccine boosters will be needed and the latest on masking guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Plus, he will provide an update on COVID-19 treatments and how to handle those who want to visit a newborn baby.

To practice safe social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, this interview was conducted using video conferencing. The sound and video quality are representative of the technology used. For the safety of its patients, staff and visitors, 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.

Read the full transcript.

Research disclosures for Dr. Gregory Poland.

Connect with others talking about the pandemic and supporting one another in the COVID-19 support group.

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.

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

 

1 Reaction

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Mentor
Chris Trout, Volunteer Mentor | @artscaping | May 13, 2021
In reply to @jal333 "How can i encourage my grown children to have grandkids ages 12-15 vaccinated. My adult children..." + (show)
@jal333

How can i encourage my grown children to have grandkids ages 12-15 vaccinated. My adult children had their vaccinations for Covid19 with no problem, but they seem hesitant to have their daughters vaccinated. Thanks for any suggestions.

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Good evening @jal333, This must be an issue with how to be a good parent. My daughter is also hesitant for her youngest daughter because of a number of issues she has had with her menstrual cycles. She is also very tiny and her mother doesn't think she is strong enough to withstand side effects from the vaccine.

Tonight I watched the MSNBC program on vaccinations. Very impressive. I watched the whole thing and learned a lot about what to say and how to say it.

May you be healthy and whole.
Chris

REPLY
stemilio | @stemilio | Aug 14, 2021
In reply to @colleenyoung "Here is the excerpt of Dr. Poland's answer re tinnitus. "So, this is a very interesting..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Here is the excerpt of Dr. Poland's answer re tinnitus.
"So, this is a very interesting question that you asked me. About an hour after my second dose, I developed severe ringing in my ears. About 10 weeks later, it's starting to decrease. This is called tinnitus. It's a very common phenomena. I've queried the CDC about it. Some 1000 reports have been received in regards to this. So, like any side effect, if you feel you've had a side effect from a vaccine, we ask people please report it, you can go online, and just type in VAERS. And it's an online reporting system that you can report, it's the only way that we can find out about rare safety signals.

So, so far, the number of people who have developed ringing in their ears has not exceeded the expected baseline if there were no COVID vaccines being given. So, what you want to know is by giving a vaccine, are you seeing a higher rate than among people who have not gotten the vaccine, and it has thus far not reached that state, but something to be aware of. By way of encouragement, and I've talked to a number of ENTs about this, they believe that if that's real, it's on a transient or temporary inflammatory basis, and that most all of those will resolve in the six-to-12-month time period. We'll see if that's true. But that seems to be the trend."

In other words, the number of currently reported cases of tinnitus following vaccination for COVID does not exceed the number of tinnitus cases that are generally reported when vaccination is not happening. Experts are not discounting the possibility of tinnitus as a side effect and believe it may be a temporary inflammation response.

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Thank you: this is very relevant to my situation as I've been suffering from tinnitus too since getting my second jab. Has there be any update by Dr Poland since the time of this podcast? Has his situation improved? Has more light been shed on this?

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1 reply
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Aug 17, 2021
In reply to @stemilio "Thank you: this is very relevant to my situation as I've been suffering from tinnitus too..." + (show)
@stemilio

Thank you: this is very relevant to my situation as I've been suffering from tinnitus too since getting my second jab. Has there be any update by Dr Poland since the time of this podcast? Has his situation improved? Has more light been shed on this?

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Hi @stemilio, welcome to Connect. I have submitted your questions to Dr. Poland for a future podcast. In the meantime, I invite you to join the conversations about tinnitus in the Hearing Loss group https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/hearing-loss/ such as these ones:

- Controlling Tinnitus: What works for you? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tinnitus-control/
- Ototoxic drugs that can cause hearing loss or tinnitus https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ototoxic-drugs-that-can-cause-hearing-loss-or-tinnitus/

REPLY
marla1 | @marla1 | Apr 27, 2022

Hello, I've been following Dr Poland's brilliant work. Thank you for your service to science and candidness with your experience. I had an extended inflammatory response of tinnitus, as well as muscle, joint, lymph pain and fatigue after first Phyzer dose. Much resolved after weeks and months however the tinnitus has been pervasive since and hesitant to take 2nd dose as able to mask, work from home, and without significant predisposition to covid risks. Weighing risks and benefits wondered about holding out for variant specific vaccine as a better course of action at this point? Dr Poland said he personally is interested in protein vaccine given his experience and I'd felt similarly and would greatly appreciate knowing (if and when) the USA will have access to protein vaccines? Lastly, has his own tinnitus and patients tinnitus diminished or resolved? (Mine seems worse.) Thank you so much in advance. I am grateful for insight!

REPLY
1 reply
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Apr 28, 2022
In reply to @marla1 "Hello, I've been following Dr Poland's brilliant work. Thank you for your service to science and..." + (show)
@marla1

Hello, I've been following Dr Poland's brilliant work. Thank you for your service to science and candidness with your experience. I had an extended inflammatory response of tinnitus, as well as muscle, joint, lymph pain and fatigue after first Phyzer dose. Much resolved after weeks and months however the tinnitus has been pervasive since and hesitant to take 2nd dose as able to mask, work from home, and without significant predisposition to covid risks. Weighing risks and benefits wondered about holding out for variant specific vaccine as a better course of action at this point? Dr Poland said he personally is interested in protein vaccine given his experience and I'd felt similarly and would greatly appreciate knowing (if and when) the USA will have access to protein vaccines? Lastly, has his own tinnitus and patients tinnitus diminished or resolved? (Mine seems worse.) Thank you so much in advance. I am grateful for insight!

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Hi @marla1, I'm glad that you have found the insights from Dr. Poland to be useful. The next podcast with Dr. Poland will go live tomorrow. What for it in your daily digest update.

In tomorrow's podcast, he and Dr. Gazelka talk about the timing of booster vaccines.

I was able submit your questions about tinnitus for the podcast that we're preparing for May 13th. Stay tuned.

To connect with others dealing with tinnitus, I see you've joined this helpful discussion with other members:
- Controlling Tinnitus: What works for you? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tinnitus-control/

REPLY
1 reply
marla1 | @marla1 | Apr 28, 2022
In reply to @colleenyoung "Hi @marla1, I'm glad that you have found the insights from Dr. Poland to be useful...." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Hi @marla1, I'm glad that you have found the insights from Dr. Poland to be useful. The next podcast with Dr. Poland will go live tomorrow. What for it in your daily digest update.

In tomorrow's podcast, he and Dr. Gazelka talk about the timing of booster vaccines.

I was able submit your questions about tinnitus for the podcast that we're preparing for May 13th. Stay tuned.

To connect with others dealing with tinnitus, I see you've joined this helpful discussion with other members:
- Controlling Tinnitus: What works for you? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tinnitus-control/

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Thank you so much Colleen! Can you please share link/time for the podcast? I'd also be grateful if he can address when and if the protein vaccines will be available to folks here who may have experienced adverse events with the mRNA dose? I'd appreciate any update as he noted in this piece that he'd also look towards the protein vaccine option given his experience with the inflammatory response of tinnitus. Thank you so much, Colleen!

REPLY
1 reply
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Apr 28, 2022
In reply to @marla1 "Thank you so much Colleen! Can you please share link/time for the podcast? I'd also be..." + (show)
@marla1

Thank you so much Colleen! Can you please share link/time for the podcast? I'd also be grateful if he can address when and if the protein vaccines will be available to folks here who may have experienced adverse events with the mRNA dose? I'd appreciate any update as he noted in this piece that he'd also look towards the protein vaccine option given his experience with the inflammatory response of tinnitus. Thank you so much, Colleen!

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I'll post the link tomorrow.

REPLY
1 reply
marla1 | @marla1 | Apr 28, 2022
In reply to @colleenyoung "I'll post the link tomorrow." + (show)
@colleenyoung

I'll post the link tomorrow.

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*I also have active vitiligo an auto immune condition and have been interested in the protein vaccine booster such as novavax now available in Canada. Or, the imminent variant vaccine. Thank you so much!

REPLY
1 reply
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Apr 29, 2022
In reply to @marla1 "*I also have active vitiligo an auto immune condition and have been interested in the protein..." + (show)
@marla1

*I also have active vitiligo an auto immune condition and have been interested in the protein vaccine booster such as novavax now available in Canada. Or, the imminent variant vaccine. Thank you so much!

Jump to this post

Maria, here's the link to the latest podcast with Dr. Poland.

- Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: COVID-19 news update [April 29, 2022] https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/podcasts/newsfeed-post/mayo-clinic-qa-podcast-covid-19-news-update/

See all podcasts here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/podcasts/

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