More insights on CDC’s ACIP votes—and where the vaccine decisions overstepped the committee’s authority

ACIP’s job is to make vaccine recommendations (and decide what’s covered by the Vaccines for Children plan). They don’t have direct authority over the vaccine information statements, they can’t order a prescription for something, and they can’t tell doctors what to tell patients.

CDC’s ACIP members spent their second session COVID vaccines, ending today with four votes on new recommendations. ACIP didn’t publicly post the text for the recs prior to the vote, and some members hadn’t read the text. Folks should take note of what happened with votes 1, 3, and 4...

Yeah, this moment was 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

"Three Russian fighter jets flew into Estonian airspace on Friday ... The incursion comes after Russia last week also sent drones into Poland and Romania, two other frontline NATO members." www.politico.eu/article/russ...

My brain whenever they say "gold standard science"...

Another ACIP update: The panel tabled this morning’s vote that would have recommended against giving the Hep B vaccine at birth … … because one member said there was too much “ambiguity” around the presented evidence of safety.

Oh boy. ACIP started today’s meeting by reopening yesterday’s second vote. The measure has now passed, meaning Medicaid and federally qualified health centers can’t provide coverage for MMRV vaccines for kids under 4. American Indian infants and toddlers have also lost coverage.

"Last month saw the biggest jump in grocery prices in almost three years." "Coffee prices have jumped more than 20% in the last year." -- Scott Horsley / NPR www.npr.org/2025/09/19/n...

Very cool: Japan sets record of nearly 100,000 people aged over 100 -- Jessica Rawnsley andStephanie Hegarty / BBC www.bbc.com/news/article...

The CDC has released the agenda for this week’s vaccine advisory meeting. The first item of business: MMR vaccines. 👀👀👀 www.cdc.gov/acip/meeting...

NEW: "Trump health officials plan to link coronavirus vaccines to the deaths of 25 children as they consider limiting which Americans should get the shots, according to four people familiar with the situation"... ✍️: @lenasun.bsky.social, @rachelroubein.bsky.social and @ddiamond.bsky.social

Nepal's former chief justice Sushila Karki likely to be interim PM, source says - Gopal Sharma and Aftab Ahmed / Reuters www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

New Mexico's chief medical officer has provided a COVID-19 vaccine prescription for all residents that the department recommends people bring when they go to get a vaccine just to ensure no problems.

First, CBS News, then CNN… Paramount Skydance Prepares Ellison-Backed Bid for Warner Bros. Discovery 👀👀👀👀 ✍️: Jessica Toonkel / WSJ

AI slop comes for the podcast industry... AI Podcast Start Up Plans 5,000 Shows, 3,000 Episode a Week - Caitlin Huston / THR "It takes about an hour to create an episode, from coming up with the idea to getting it out in the world." www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...

BREAKING: Susan Monarez, forced out by RFK Jr as CDC director, to testify in front of Senate panel next week. Monarez has said RFK Jr pressured her around vaccines. RFK Jr has said she was untrustworthy. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

New Mexico governor announces free universal child care - Austin Fisher / @sourcenm.com sourcenm.com/2025/09/08/n...

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow it to freeze billions in foreign aid - Justin Jouvenal / WashPost wapo.st/4paKukE

HIGHER ED PEEPS LISTEN UP. Linda McMahon wants universities to report aggregated sex, race, test score, GPA, and educational outcomes. Meaning they will want to connect someone’s bio/demo data with school outcomes. Public comment is open now until 10/14/25. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

New Ebola outbreak in DRC: www.afro.who.int/countries/de...

Meanwhile in Florida ... wapo.st/4p68Vzy/

More states are considering the formation of regional health alliances to supplant CDC services. This week, it's California, Oregon and Washington... ✍️: Emily Baumgaertner Nunn / NYT www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...

Dr. Paul Offit, a prominent voice on vaccines and frequent critic of RFK Jr, is blocked from participating in FDA’s vaccine advisory committee. HHS says his special government employee status expired. Offit says FDA had asked him to stay on 2 more years: www.cnn.com/2025/09/02/h...

RFK Jr. pens another op-ed for WSJ, offering more breadcrumbs on what might happen to vaccine policy. 🎁🔗for interested parties www.wsj.com/opinion/robe...

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“The Trump administration said it is using an untested strategy to rescind $4.9 billion in foreign aid without congressional approval” Siobhan Hughes / WSJ www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

NEW: Inside the meetings and disagreements over vaccine policy that led to Susan Monarez's ouster at CDC — and a series of other agency leaders' resignations www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...

Update: At least three other high-ranking officials in CDC have also resigned. “I am not able to serve in this role any longer because of the ongoing weaponization of public health,” one of the officials said in a note to staff.

SCOOP BREAKING: CDC director being ousted weeks into job. Me @ddiamond @LaurenWeberHP www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Here's a guide to what the new restrictions on Covid vaccines mean for you, and how you may be able to get a shot if you don't meet the new criteria (age 65+ or a high-risk condition).

So pretty much everyone? “A whistleblower says that a former senior DOGE official now at the Social Security Administration copied the Social Security numbers, names and birthdays of over 300 million Americans to a private section of the agency's cloud.” Geoff Brumfiel/NPR

due to funding cuts, foodnet is no longer requiring state-level monitoring for campylobacter, cyclospora, listeria, shigella, vibrio and yersinia. the 10 foodnet states can still do that, but they’ll need funding to replace CDC’s

Time to quit heatwaves!

“According to one of the women I spoke with 55 children were absent from one school on 1/24. The women reported that there were sick children with measles symptoms as early as November." ✍️: @amymaxmen.bsky.social with a scoop about the Texas measles outbreak

A Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In. Kashmir Hill / NYT www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/t...

"The Trump administration is ignoring a directive from Congress and refusing to fully fund a landmark H.I.V. program [PEPFAR] that is widely credited with saving millions of lives over the past two decades." Stephanie Nolen / NYT

Oh: "The State Department said Thursday that it’s reviewing the records of more than 55 million foreigners who hold valid U.S. visas for potential revocation or deportable violations of immigration rules." Matthew Lee / AP

"Hundreds of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees have received permanent termination notices, according to multiple officials familiar with the matter, less than two weeks after a gunman’s assault on the agency headquarters" Lena Sun and Grace Moon / WashPost

This isn’t a criticism of NPR because the term can be found elsewhere, but describing a generation of children as “COVID kindergartners” will probably create stigma.

BREAKING: Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...

"According to a Defence Ministry report released last Sunday, the South Korean military has shrunk by 20 per cent over the past six years, with active-duty personnel now numbering around 450,000 – down from about 690,000 soldiers in the early 2000s." Maria Siow / SCMP

On Hurricane Erin's size: If the storm was currently over the U.S. mainland, its hurricane-force winds would stretch from Washington D.C. to middle New Jersey. Its tropical-storm-force winds would stretch from Washington D.C. to Maine. It's a big one ...

American Academy of Pediatrics has released our annual update to our immunization recommendations to best help children and adolescents build immunity and stay healthy. Read our full policy statement to learn about AAP's updated immunization schedule. www.aap.org/en/news-room...

The American Academy of Pediatrics Releases Its Own Evidence-Based Immunization Schedule Schedule includes updated AAP recommendations for vaccines for fall respiratory viruses publications.aap.org/redbook/reso...

I want to believe the Texas DOH but I'm not sure that I do. @monscience.bsky.social shared this today. There is still a hell of a lot of measles just across the border. www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/meas...

Chihuahua, Mexico, is North America's measles epicenter as the state or province with the most cases recorded in 2025. @ginarivers90.bsky.social reports on how measles is thriving and causing deaths among Mexico’s unvaccinated communities, amid deep budget cuts to health care.

15 years of radio observations yielded this amazing view down the throat of a black hole. We're looking into a jet of plasma shooting out from a supermassive black hole, called PKS 1424+240. The lines depict intense magnetic fields threaded through the jet. 🧪🔭 www.mpg.de/25171297/eye...

See? The news isn't all bad... news.gallup.com/poll/693362/...

Global Plastics Treaty Talks Near Collapse With Days to Deadline - Stefan Anderson / Health Policy Watch healthpolicy-watch.news/global-plast...