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MK: Yes! I went back and forth between a corporate career and my work as an academic (I like to

say that I went from doing well to doing good). I started working in the pharmaceutical industry
when companies were more likely to give their product
away than to try to charge huge prices—I truly miss those
days! But between my work in those two areas, I came to
Mick Kolassa
really understand what goes on in the labs as well as the
boardrooms. As an academic I also edited several
scientific journals including the Journal of

Pharmacoepidemiology (I highly recommend it if you are
in need of sleep!) which gave me a unique perspective on
the area of epidemiology, which has come in handy over
the past couple of years. That, combined with my
working in and teaching graduate level courses on drug
development and commercialisation help me to have
great comfort in these vaccines.

It is very troubling to me to see and hear the

misinformation about the vaccines, which are far safer
than contracting COVID in every way. And the side
effects of the vaccines are also, in fact, effects of the
disease itself, but in a much less common and less severe
form—and the vaccines are far less costly and more
effective than simply catching and treating COVID. Most
important is this fact: when you get vaccinated you are
protecting other people as well as yourself- failing to get
vaccinated increases the likelihood of you contracting the virus and spreading it to others. The

whole idea of “herd immunity” is based not on getting everyone infected but getting nearly
everyone vaccinated to cut down on the transmission of the disease. Being vaccinated helps to save
others—especially those who can’t get vaccinated for legitimate a medical reason.

LL: What can your fans look forward to coming up for you?

MK: I am headed back to the studio in a few days to record a song that I wrote with Teeny Tucker.
She will add her vocals to it and we will ask some other artists to sing some of it as well—the song
tells the story of the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale, which holds an incredible place in blues history.

The song will be used in the campaign to raise money to restore and maintain this very special
place.

But since I’m going to be in the studio, I’ll cut a few more songs as I get my next three albums
underway. I’ve only done ten albums so far, so I’m just getting started!

~ Lawrence Lebo

Lawrence Lebo is an award winning, critically acclaimed Blues recording artist living in Los
Angeles, CA, USA. She can be found on the web at www.lawrencelebo.com