6 years today the first COVID case was identified in a man in Wuhan marking the beginning of a global pandemic that changed the world. We are way less prepared today to face another pandemic than we were back then. This fact makes me sad.

Christian: O Holy Night, but the singing and instrumentation has to be dramatic (runner up: O Come All Ye Faithful) Secular: Please Come Home for Christmas by Don Henley (runner up: Last Christmas by George Michael - I don't care if it's overplayed)

David Bowie Pentatonix Live Fleetwood Mac Jackson Browne

So hard! Princess Bride Die Hard Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Labyrinth

Why does it feel like the nation is held together by paperclips and school glue? One small move, and it'll fall apart. #LateStageCapitalism

If you have sincerely held religious beliefs that prevent you from carrying out your job duties for any segment of the population, find a different career. #WTFTexas #LoveIsLove

The New England Journal of Medicine and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy will be publishing regular public health alerts to replace the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which has been paused due to the federal government shutdown.

No human subject oversight

Now, more than ever, we can't trust the Federal health websites. Here are some alternatives: aboutus.restoredcdc.org/trusted-reso... #ScienceNotSilence #MedSky #EpiSky

This is beyond bad. All of our disease defenses are down now. We are sitting ducks. This is #RussellVought #DonaldTrump. They are endangering American lives with their insane crusade. These men are hazardous to your health and dangerous to the republic.

How about apps not require the latest update in order to see internet outages when my 4G signal is slower than molasses? Can we try that instead?

Why do requests for peer review always come in batches after months of nothing? #EpiSky #MedSky #AcademicSky

In case you missed it...

Looking for #health information you can trust? We've compiled some resources. aboutus.restoredcdc.org/trusted-reso... #MedSky #ScienceNotSilence #AltGov

Now that the federal health agencies can no longer be trusted as sources of truth, where are you getting your health data, advice, and recommendations? I'm compiling a list of places to stand in for our once-trusted institutions.

I honestly wonder if lead exposure had a much larger effect on our collective intelligence than previously appreciated.

The CDC is back to its page-deleting shenanigans. Want to compare with the site pre-2025? RestoredCDC.org #PublicHealth #EpiSky #MedSky

The chair of the #ACIP is a #COVID-contrarian, Martin Kulldorff, as are others on the committee (i.e., Robert Malone). COVID-contrarians also have hands on the lever of vaccine policy at #FDA (i.e., Vinay Prasad, Tracy Beth Hoeg), at #NIH (i.e., Jay Bhattacharya). 1/

The current ACIP is not a credible committee. It pains me to say this, but do NOT listen to them for guidance on vaccines. I am an infectious disease doc and will be roundly ignoring their misinformed and anti-scientific guidelines. Yesterday's spectacle was an insult to vaccinology and science.

After my flu and COVID-19 vaccinations yesterday, I had minor site soreness and minor malaise. Both typical reactions and solved with one dose of NSAIDs. Much easier than dealing with either flu or covid. #VaccinesSaveLives #PublicHealth

NC Governor Stein ordered allowing COVID-19 vaccination without needing a prescription. I got my flu and COVID-19 vaccinations this morning! #VaccinesSaveLives #PublicHealth governor.nc.gov/news/press-r...

It is the year 2025. Why is working with a shared network drive and EndNote so painful? I just want to insert some references into my study protocol, not calculate some quantum uncertainty. Updating a reference list shouldn't take an hour. I'm just saying...

Q: What if we lied and said that vaccines contain Ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine or the bullshit wormer de jour? Would that marketing angle improve uptake? Falsely state that the vaccines are homeopathic? Associate them with beer and a mascot? #spitballing

Nothing like living in a state (NC) that requires a prescription for a vaccination. Fucking hell.

Here is a word cloud of the words that were missing from the noncompetitive renewal awards but had been present in the parent award. 3/4

🧪New pub! Safety monitoring of health outcomes following influenza vaccination during the 2023–2024 season among U.S. Commercially-insured individuals aged 6m-64y: Self-controlled case series analyses (Gift link until 10/10) Take home in comments. authors.elsevier.com/c/1leQt,60n7...

The average American simply has no idea how quickly the infrastructure that keeps us safe and healthy is collapsing. These systems run in the background thanks to government employees who quietly do critical work. Those employees are being purged and systems are being destroyed.

Fellow #ISPE attendees. My eyesight is bad, and my face memory is poor. If you know me and I don't greet you, likely, I didn't see you or recognize you outside our typical interactions. I'm so sorry!

Target trial emulation can be distilled down to "come on, observational investigators... think about your methods". Change my mind. #EpiSky

I signed. I stand in solidarity with HHS employees.

Looking forward to connecting with clients and friends at #ISPE! I'll be presenting on Medicaid health outcomes and pediatric IBD. Come check out the Carelon Research booth.

Help the family of the public health hero that gave his life to save scientists. gofund.me/be7faf58

IMPORTANT UPDATE IMPORTANT UPDATE Regarding APHU/ACLU et al. vs. NIH Lawsuit

Remember, PubMed is going offline tomorrow night for “24+ hours”. Get that lit review done.

More natural disasters are hitting the U.S. than ever before. But too often, our crisis warning systems depend on Facebook and Twitter/X, social media platforms that are fading in popularity and have been engineered to hide vital information from people when they need it most. This needs to end:

🧪 Science on how our brains process the number of something, like a crowd.

🧪 #SocialScience

🧪Pre-Kennedy CDC information on COVID-19 vaccination and pregnancy restoredcdc.org/www.cdc.gov/... #EpiSky #MedSky #ScienceNotSilence

Let me be clear, a COVID infection is a greater risk to a healthy pregnancy than a COVID vaccination.

My personal site got bot swarmed over the weekend. I was unprepared. ℹ️I put together this blog post so maybe you can prepare yourself. www.laurenparlett.com/index.php?p=...

This is incredibly important, please share. You the American taxpayer paid for this data and you have the right to access it. Thank you @justsecurity.org #transparency #accountability www.justsecurity.org/110255/serie...

I want my government to be boring and competent enough so that I don’t have to think about it every goddamn minute.

The White House is proposing to cut health research leading to the loss of $16B and 68,500 jobs. Here's how your community will be impacted: scienceimpacts.org 🙏 @joshuasweitz.bsky.social

Yesterday's team building exercise started with considering survival/escape items on a deserted island and ended with everyone agreeing that we didn't want to leave. So... that's ten epidemiologists who prefer the conditions of Castaway to the US. #publichealth #braindrain #AttackOnScience

Why haven't I been blogging in my newly minted blog? Inquiring minds probably care about other things, but I explain things here: Restoring the CDC website www.laurenparlett.com/index.php?p=...

I stand in solidarity with all of my colleagues who do health equity research. This work matters for the communities we serve. This week has been catastrophic for grant cancelations and our communities are hurting terribly. Please share and stand with us in solidarity.

Since January 20th there's been a significant reduction of content on #US government websites following directives from the #Trump administration to delete data and resources. @restoredcdc.bsky.social are restoring these websites before they become inaccessible. open.spotify.com/episode/2TdC...

99.4% of new drugs approved by the FDA are the product of NIH funded research. Remember this every time you see another headline on the NIH funding cuts. It will directly impact YOU. #ScienceNOTSilence

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These days I'm irritated by people who exemplify "I've tried nothing and am all out of ideas". FFS, no one is going to hold your hand through life.