COVID-19 vaccine trials update

While the number of COVID-19 cases continues to surge, there is positive news on the vaccine front. In early clinical trial data, two vaccines have now shown at least 90% effectiveness in reducing the risk of infection from the virus that causes COVID-19. While more time and research is needed to understand how long the immunity from a vaccine lasts, experts believe a vaccine could be approved for emergency use authorization before the end of the year.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, discusses the latest on current COVID-19 clinical trials. Dr. Poland also explains what public health experts mean by community spread of the virus and why that leads to exponential growth in cases of COVID-19

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.

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Dr. Poland has served as a consultant for Merck & Co. Inc., Medicago Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Sanofi Pasteur, Emergent BioSolutions Inc., Dynavax Technologies Corp., Genentech Inc., Eli Lilly and Co., Kentucky BioProcessing Inc. and Genevant Sciences Corp., and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. He is a paid scientific adviser for Johnson & Johnson. Honoraria: Elsevier.