Hi everyone, just a heads up that we have new Oostrom update podcast and Sidrat merchandise

available on the MN alumni market website, including Mugs, T-shirts and Socks.

You can find the link to that merchandise in the episode description.

Now here's this week's episode of the Oostrom update.

Hello and welcome to the Oostrom update, COVID-19, a weekly podcast on the COVID-19 pandemic

with Dr. Michael Oosterholm.

Dr. Oosterholm is an internationally recognized medical detective and director of the Center

for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or Sidrat, at the University of Minnesota.

In this podcast, Dr. Oosterholm 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 Sidrat News.

I'm your host for these conversations.

It's April 8th, and across the country, millions of Americans every day are getting their

first or second doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

The weather is getting warmer, signs of spring are popping up everywhere, and the light

at the end of the tunnel is getting a little brighter every day.

At the same time, a surge of infections fueled by the B-117 variant is gathering steam

in the U.S., following a regional pattern that we've seen play out before in this pandemic.

And the worst thing global spike in infections is raising the specter of new and even more

dangerous coronavirus variants popping up and prolonging the pandemic.

So for many of those who have been fully vaccinated or are between doses, it feels like, as Jimmy

Cliff once sang, sitting in limbo.

...