A weekly report on the COVID-19 pandemic from infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH. Dr. Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota and has spent a career investigating outbreaks. Since 2005, he has emphasized supply chain and other vulnerabilities and a critical need for pandemic preparedness. In this podcast, Dr. Osterholm dissects the latest COVID-19 news, data, and guidance.
CIDRAP’s Chris Dall, MA, is the cohost of the Osterholm Update and a reporter for CIDRAP News. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu
","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/osterholm-update-744108"},"episode":{"title":"Episode 208: Bad News, Good News","slug":"episode-208-bad-news-good-news","published_at":"2026-05-07T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/osterholm-update-744108/episode-208-bad-news-good-news","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/osterholm-update-744108","url":"https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science/episode-208-bad-news-good-news","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/www.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/media/covid-19-podcasts/OU_E208_RG_FINAL.mp3","summary":"<p dir=\"ltr\">This week on the Osterholm Update, Chris Dall and Dr. Osterholm dissect the latest results of Paxlovid trials and what they tell us about COVID-19. They'll also discuss a CDC study on COVID-19 vaccines that's been blocked by the acting CDC director, examine a survey that reveals the impact of changes to CDC messaging on vaccines and autism, explore the US Defense Secretary's decision to no longer require flu shots for US military members and bring you up to speed on the hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch cruise ship. Plus, the latest findings of CIDRAP’s analysis of HPV vaccines.<br><br><a href=\"https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/paxlovid-doesn-t-reduce-hospitalization-death-rates-vaccinated-high-risk-covid-outpatients\">Paxlovid doesn’t reduce hospitalization, death rates in vaccinated high-risk COVID outpatients, trial shows</a> (CIDRAP)<br><br><a href=\"https://insidemedicine.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-paxlovid-era-why-two\">The end of the Paxlovid era? Why two new negative trials are great news.</a> (Inside Medicine Substack) <br> </p> <p><a href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2026/04/27/is-covid-still-a-thing-expert-analysis-who-needs-vaccine-booster-shot/\">What happened to Covid?</a> (STAT)<br><br><a href=\"https://vaxintegrity.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/FINAL%20REPORT%20HPV%20Vaccine%20Evidence%20Review_0.pdf\">Safety and effectiveness of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine</a> (Vaccine Integrity Project)<br><br><a href=\"https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/human-papillomavirus-hpv/hardest-thing-i-ve-ever-gone-through-cervical-cancer-survivors-speak-out\">‘The hardest thing I’ve ever gone through’: Cervical cancer survi…","meta_description":"This week on the Osterholm Update, Chris Dall and Dr. Osterholm dissect the latest results of Paxlovid trials and what they tell us abo…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":null,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/osterholm-update-744108/episodes/episode-208-bad-news-good-news/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/osterholm-update-744108/episode-208-bad-news-good-news.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}