NatSec Matters COVID & The Next 'Big One': Dr. Michael Osterholm
Oct 1, 2025
Dr. Michael Osterholm, Regents Professor and founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, shares urgent insights from his book on pandemic preparedness. He critiques current public health measures like plexiglass shields and six-foot distancing, labeling them ineffective. Osterholm emphasizes the inevitability of pandemics and the need for robust preemptive vaccines. He connects public health and national security, calling for increased research funding to safeguard military readiness against future biological threats.
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From New Yorker Story To Public-Health Career
- Michael Osterholm traced his interest in epidemiology to reading medical 'whodunit' stories as a youth and wanting to be a medical detective.
- He built a 50-year public-health career spanning state health work, HHS advising, and founding CIDRAP.
Coronaviruses Could Be Deadlier Than COVID
- Coronaviruses can combine high infectiousness with high lethality, creating existential pandemic threats beyond COVID.
- Osterholm warns that viruses with both traits could cause far higher mortality than COVID's ~1.5%.
Use 'Snow Days' To Prevent Hospital Overload
- Adopt 'snow day' surge pauses triggered by hospital occupancy to preserve care quality during prolonged pandemics.
- Publish hospital census thresholds publicly and pause major events and schools when occupancy hits critical levels.
