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.

As has been the case throughout the early part of 2021, the end of February in the beginning

of March were marked by signs of COVID-19 optimism and COVID-19 pessimism.

On the optimistic side, there was the emergency use authorization of Johnson and Johnson's COVID-19

vaccine, a single dose vaccine that can be shipped and stored at regular refrigeration temperatures

and will give health providers a more agile tool for immunizing people in a range of settings.

On the pessimistic side, the decline in U.S. cases that began in January appears to be plateauing

at a high level, while global cases rose for the first time in seven weeks with new surges

being driven in part by coronavirus variants, easing of pandemic restrictions, and people letting

down their guard. Please hear me clearly. At this level of cases with variant spreading,

we stand to completely lose the harder and ground we've gained. CDC Director Rochelle

Wolinski said it on Monday press briefing. On this March 4th episode of the Oostrom update,

we'll be exploring the theme of optimism and pessimism. As we discuss the authorization of

the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and what it means for the U.S. immunization effort,

the concerning trends in U.S. and global COVID-19 cases, and the rising threat of coronavirus

variants. We'll also answer a listener email on the effectiveness of masks and highlight a

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