The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as have booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines. These are welcome developments as the COVID-19 delta variant wave continues to rip through many U.S. communities, exhausting and wearing people down.

"I cannot tell you the emotional toll this has taken on us as physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and many, many others," says Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group. 

"One of my colleagues said, 'I walk around now and can see people with comorbidities, not wearing a mask, and I can tell you what size tracheal tube they're going to need.' We don't normally think like that, but it's illustrative of the steady 18-month drumbeat of seeing people sick and dying of something we can prevent," says Dr. Poland.

In this Mayo Clinic Q&A, Dr. Poland talks more about FDA approvals for COVID-19 vaccines, goes into detail about the COVID-19 virus replication rate and he answering a listener question about the reliability of home COVID-19 tests. Dr. Poland also explains and speaks to the importance of "cocooning" for protection, especially with newborns and toddlers.

Research disclosures for Dr. Gregory Poland.