Hello and welcome to the Ostrome Update COVID-19, a podcast on the COVID-19 pandemic with

Dr. Michael Ostrome.

Dr. Ostrome 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. Ostrome 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 Dahl, reporter for CITRAP News, and I'm your host for these conversations.

Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Ostrome Update Podcast.

At a 4th of July celebration held this past weekend on the White House grounds.

President Joe Biden told the gathering of more than 1,000 people to think about how far

the nation has come over the past year.

While the virus hasn't been vanquished, the president said, we know this, it no longer

controls our lives.

It no longer paralyzes our nation.

And it's within our power to make sure it never does again.

The president does have cause for optimism.

COVID-19 cases and deaths remain at all-time low as nationwide.

And yet, with the highly transmissible Delta variant to the coronavirus spreading in the

US and causing new surges and states with low vaccination rates, concerns are emerging

about what the coming weeks and months will look like in those parts of the country.

And new questions are being raised about the potential need for booster shots for the

vaccinated.

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