Hello and welcome to the Oster Home Update, COVID-19, a weekly podcast on the COVID-19

pandemic with Dr. Michael Oster Home. Dr. Oster Home is an internationally recognized

medical detective and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

or CITRAP at the University of Minnesota. In this podcast, Dr. Oster Home will draw on

more than 45 years of experience investigating infectious disease outbreaks to provide

straight talk on the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm Chris Doll, reporter for CITRAP News. I'm your

host for these conversations. On Monday of this week, the first shipments of the newly authorized

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in hospitals around the country. Heraldings start

of a new chapter in the nation's struggle against the coronavirus. A critical care nurse from

New York named Sandra Lindsay, who works at a hospital that was among the hardest hit during

the early days of the pandemic, was the first American to receive the vaccine outside of

a clinical trial. It feels surreal, Lindsay told New York Times, it is a huge sense of relief

for me and hope. The journey from vaccine to vaccination has begun. On this December 17th

episode of the Oster Home Update, we're going to discuss the hope that the new COVID-19

vaccine brings. The challenges that lie ahead is the federal and state governments

prepared a rollout, non-personated mass vaccination campaign, and answer some listener questions

about COVID-19 vaccines. We'll also take a look at the current state of the pandemic in

the US. Talk about the upcoming holidays and how people can celebrate them safely. Review

some lingering questions about COVID-19 in schools and highlight an act of kindness from

the Oster Home Update website. But first, we'll begin with Dr. Oster Home's opening thoughts.

Thank you, Chris, and welcome everyone back to our weekly podcast family. It's great

to have you with us. Appreciate you taking the time. This is a time when we're thinking

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