A hantavirus outbreak is under investigation after cases linked to an expedition cruise ship. This situation is evolving fast, and so is the coverage. Some of it is helpful, some not. I helped put together a rapid evidence brief with The Evidence Collective. open.substack.com/pub/evidence...

The anti-vaccine movement doesn’t sell alternative facts. It sells belonging. The tactics from 1896 and today are the same. What changed is the scale and erosion of communities that used to buffer it. It doesn’t matter how good our evidence is. People don’t adopt facts. They accept invitations

The science they tried to bury: a study on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness, blocked from MMWR publication by CDC and HHS leadership, is now out in Inside Medicine. Read it here 👇 open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

When I was a child, I was hospitalized with rotavirus. There was no vaccine then. There is one now. Social media is blaming this rotavirus season on vaccine hesitancy. The truth is more complicated. This is a structural problem. Missing that means investing in the wrong solutions. 🔗 Link below👇

I joined BBC’s More or Less porcast to answer a question a lot of people are asking: have RFK Jr. and MAHA actually changed how Americans think about vaccines? The data have a more nuanced answer than most headlines suggest. It's worth 8 minutes of your time → bbc.com/audio/play/p...

SCOOP: Two weeks ago, the head of the CDC delayed publication of a report showing covid vaccine cut likelihood of ER visits and hospitalizations by half. Now that report is no longer allowed to be published in CDC’s flagship scientific journal. My latest. 1/2 www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

George Washington mandated a relatively dangerous inoculation for his troops in 1777 because he knew disease undermined readiness. In 2026, a low-risk vaccine became optional for the U.S. military. www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

How valid is Politico’s vaccine skepticism poll? @drhigginsmd.bsky.social delivers a helpful analysis. We may be in an era of poll pollution. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/questionin...

Such an important piece from @drhigginsmd.bsky.social. I had similar conclusions when I looked at the Politico poll in question, but Dr. Higgins expressed it more eloquently than I ever could. Vaccine hesitancy is not mainstream and we should not present it as such.

Don’t believe the headlines this week saying that vaccine skepticism is widespread. Here’s what the data actually shows in my piece in STAT today. www.statnews.com/2026/04/17/v... via @statnews.com

Should pediatric clinics dismiss families who refuse vaccines? I've come full circle on this. Read my article co-authored with Dr. Jess Steier and Dr. Elana Pearl Benjoseph

The claim that pediatricians profit from vaccines has been amplified at the highest federal levels. The Unbiased Science Podcast spent 6 months investigating across all 50 states. Reality: many practices lose money on every dose. I co-hosted with Dr. Jess Steier. open.spotify.com/episode/5Z4o...

This week’s AAP v. Kennedy ruling is worth celebrating. A federal judge blocked the Kennedy vaccine schedule and sent a clear message: you cannot bypass scientific and legal process and expect it to stand.🧵

The most effective vaccine program in America doesn't require a new drug or breakthrough. It requires a form for school enrollment. And the reason it works might surprise you. Five questions with honest answers, written with Dr. Katelyn Jetelina open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...

New in Community Immunity: The Roundup. Five things: new series on vaccine governance, school vaccine requirements, vaccine dismissal policies, ACIP prebunk, and the myth that won't die. Link below 👇 #vaccines #community #publichealth

Parents’ vaccine decisions are rarely just about evidence. They’re shaped by fear, identity, experience, and love. A beautiful @nytimes.com piece by my colleague captures that complexity with real empathy. This is a must-read! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/o...

New essay out in Community Immunity. It begins with a simple thought experiment: what if future leaders attempt to restore vaccine policy structures overnight? Would that rebuild trust — or deepen polarization? The way things were isn’t the way things can be anymore. #PublicHealth #Vaccines

When it comes to vaccines, what parents want has not changed. They want clear recommendations and honest explanations. They want reassurance that the advice they receive is grounded in their child’s best interest. And they want a trusted expert to help them navigate the noise.

Applications accepted until 2/15 for Fall 2026! App instructions and other info here: tinyurl.com/5bps2c8j @borsikarabin.bsky.social, @bmkwan.bsky.social, @monica-p-jolles.bsky.social, @drhigginsmd.bsky.social, @dramyhuebschmann.bsky.social, @russgl.bsky.social @cctsi.bsky.social #DIScience #ImpSci

New KFF data show trust in the CDC as a source of reliable vaccine information is now at a historic low following a recent overhaul to childhood vaccine recommendations. That matters because federal health leaders have explicitly justified their policy changes as necessary to restore public trust.🧵

Our article is out today in @statnews.com. Do pediatricians get rich from vaccines? We followed the money. Short answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT. This dangerously misleading claim just won’t die. www.statnews.com/2026/01/29/p...

Preventing more diseases is a success, not a failure. This shouldn’t be controversial. open.substack.com/pub/communit... #Vaccines ##PreventDisease

New 📰 The U.S. is being called a vaccine “outlier.” But why is that assumed to be bad? Also: changes to a key federal advisory commission, flu policy during a severe season, and ethics concerns in a halted hepatitis B study in Africa. Read here: 🔗 communityimmunity.substack.com/p/the-proble...

States, health organizations reject new CDC vaccine guidance A growing number of states are pushing back against sweeping changes to the US childhood vaccine schedule. www.cidrap.umn.edu/p...

Read my @medpagetoday.com op-ed on recent U.S. vaccine policy changes framed as “restoring trust.” The gap between that idea and reality is striking. Trust comes from clarity, evidence, and consistency. www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco... #Vaccines #PublicHealth @gfriedma.bsky.social

TOMORROW! Join us for an informational webinar about the D&I Science Graduate Certificate Program. Register at ucdenverdata.formstack.com/forms/dicert... #ImpSci #CUAnschutz

🚨 The U.S. childhood vaccine schedule is being rewritten. The New York Times reports that RFK Jr./HHS/CDC are shifting routine vaccines into “individual decision-making,” cutting routine protection from 17 diseases to 11. 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/h...

Writing publicly and being in the spotlight isn’t my default setting. 📰 This week’s Community Immunity is a reflection on why I write publicly about vaccines, evidence, and trust, and what it takes to sustain this work.

The nearly 80-year-old law that could hamper RFK Jr.’s drive to remake vaccine schedule Legal experts say Kennedy needs to follow established legal procedures to prevent any policy changes from being dismissed by a judge. www.cidrap.umn.edu/c... Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr cc

@drhigginsmd.bsky.social: "many clinics and pediatricians will simply say they don’t recommend the Denmark schedule, which will worsen parental confusion. School vaccination requirements are set by state laws, and most require some of the vaccines that aren’t on the Denmark schedule" 🎁

National vaccine schedules cannot be copy-pasted. This is dangerous vaccine policy. The confusion and disruption would be immediate. As I told WaPo, "I have never been more concerned about the future of vaccines and children’s health than I am now.” 1/6🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/h...

Petty infantile vengeance vs objective science? Are we surprised MAGA/MAHA has embraced science-free rage? So on-brand. Still unbelievable. American Academy of Pediatrics loses HHS funding after criticizing RFK Jr. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/... cc @ameracadpeds.bsky.social

“Shared decision-making” is being invoked more and more in federal vaccine guidance. That doesn’t mean everyone is using it the same way. Today’s Community Immunity looks at what shared decision-making is—and what it isn’t—especially when it comes to vaccine policy.

If there’s a misperception that vaccine hesitancy is extremely high, it creates real risk at the policy and clinician level. My thoughts on this are in Medical Economics. #VaccineConfidence #PublicHealth #HealthPolicy www.medicaleconomics.com/shorts/risk-...

Pregnant women vaccinated against COVID-19 less likely to be hospitalized or deliver prematurely, new data show. The study confirms the benefits of the vaccines, even as the Trump administration raises doubts about their safety. www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/pre...

Racially charged language on mothers, babies taints vaccine advisory meeting by @LizSzabo Throughout the 2-day meeting, speakers and ACIP members singled out immigrants and people from Asia as potential sources of hepatitis B infection www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...

The CDC’s ACIP vaccine meeting this week was flooded with rhetoric posing as science. Confidence ≠ evidence. As I told WaPo: misinformation wrapped in scientific authority is the most dangerous kind. Our kids deserve better.

ACIP’s two-day meeting was a chaotic circus of misinformation, distortion, and people speaking with confidence far beyond their expertise. One thought kept coming back to me: our kids deserve better. Do not come between a pediatrician and our patients’ health. We are fiercely devoted to them.

“Vaccinating babies for hepatitis B at birth remains one of the clearest, most evidence-based ways to keep American children free of this lifelong, deadly infection.” - @drhigginsmd.bsky.social, preventive medicine specialist, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

9/ The vaccine schedule is only one item on ACIP’s agenda this week. This breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/2025-dec-acip-prebunk Love, @drhigginsmd.bsky.social Annicka Evans, PhD @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

1/ Tomorrow, #ACIP —the external advisory committee that guides U.S. vaccine policy—will meet for two days. Thursday’s agenda will focus on Hepatitis B (Hep B). We’re expecting to hear a few falsehoods to start circulating along with some unsupported safety concerns. Here’s what you should know 👇

11/ HBV is only one item on ACIP’s meeting agenda this week. This resource breaks it all down👉 evicollective.org/2025-dec-acip-prebunk Love, Annicka Evans, PhD @drhigginsmd.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social @sciencewhizliz.bsky.social @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social

ACIP is again considering delaying the hepatitis B birth dose, with no new evidence to support it. New modeling shows that hundreds of preventable newborn infections could occur if the birth dose is removed. Today’s Substack: communityimmunity.substack.com/p/the-cost-o... #vaccines #publichealth

CDC’s acting director recently claimed that “informed consent is back” for vaccines—implying it ever disappeared. It didn’t. The real concern isn’t a lack of informed consent, but the growing effort to twist it into fear, confusion, and "misinformed refusal". open.substack.com/pub/communit...

Some genuinely good news! A new study found the monoclonal antibody nirsevimab cut ICU admissions and respiratory failure by ~80% in infants during their first RSV season. This is what progress looks like. These tools are working! #RSV #PublicHealth #Pediatrics www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

🚨 Today’s CDC update to its Autism and Vaccines page is deeply troubling. It takes a well-studied question with decades of consistent evidence and reframes it as uncertain—using a dangerous mix of misrepresentation and false equivalence. www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...

Pew’s latest vaccine survey drew headlines like “GOP support slips”. I’ve never had a parent refuse due to party affiliation. These decisions are driven, among other things, by social norms, media, and values—not party labels. Framing it politically only risks making it political. bit.ly/482gijR

📰New this week! Why vaccine policy debates aren’t just political theater—they show up in exam rooms, shaping what parents hear and how children are protected. open.substack.com/pub/communit...

PAHO meets this week to decide if we’ve lost measles elimination status. I warned in this interview that we’re marching toward that threshold—and getting this close signals widening vaccination gaps and eroding public health capacity. 🔗 www.scientificamerican.com/article/meas... #Vaccines #Measles

Even small drops in vaccination rates can open the door to outbreaks. In my Q&A with The Conversation, I explain why school vaccine requirements matter, how we monitor vaccine safety, and what’s behind recent dips in coverage. theconversation.com/even-small-d... #VaccinesWork #PublicHealth