Wow: The share of U.S. counties where 95% + of kindergartners were vaccinated against measles — the number doctors say is needed to achieve “herd immunity” — has dropped from 50 percent before the pandemic to 28 percent

5 million-plus kindergartners now live in counties where schools don’t have “herd immunity” for measles, Washington Post reporters found. WaPo also built a tool to look up your own county. Exceptional, and alarming work by @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @caitlingilbert.bsky.social et al. (Gift link.)

A few months ago, ICE agents shot a TikToker. The govt then charged him, alleging he tried to ram agents Well guess what? Body-cam footage -- which the gov't delayed disclosing -- shows that's BS. The agent shot by mistake. And a judge just dismissed charges. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Not to be missed:

HUGE NEWS from the new Epstein files: Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996. The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...

Link to the Epstein library of just-released documents on DOJ's website -- www.justice.gov/epstein Looks like it's a backed-up waiting room for now.

👀🚨👀 NYT has the just-released Epstein files and a team of reporters live blogging. . . www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12...

given rising global populism — and tendency to demonize people with little power in society — worth reflecting that the hero in Australia's mass shooting was a Syrian refugee, and the key witness in the Brown University shooting was a homeless man

My latest: Last month, RFK Jr.'s dep. sec. staged something of a coup against FDA boss Marty Makary. The White House waved it off. But what a year: 4,000 staff out, a drop in foreign inspections and $$ restrictions that left lab staff sitting idle. GIFT: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/h...

A Michigan Democrat is seeking to impeach Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/u...

Millions of Americans are confronting the highest health insurance costs in years. @reedabelson.bsky.social son explains why. Obamacare subsidies expire in 3 weeks. The clock is ticking on Capitol Hill. Congress may push the issue off until next year. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/h...

Breaking: Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi agreed to part ways after new revelations and allegations about an affair with RFK Jr. and her behavior while reporting on him.

The CDC vaccine panel is now discussing aluminum salts in vaccines. Here's what I wrote on the topic, including that RFK Jr. as a vaccine activist, tried to donate $15K to a researcher who claims it is hazardous. His check was returned: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/h...

BREAKING: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h... The panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, voted 8-3 that women who test negative for the virus should consult with their health care provider and “decide when or if their child will” be vaccinated against the virus at birth.

Soon CDC's influential vaccine committee will hear from Aaron Siri, which Sen. Cassidy finds alarming. ⬇️ I'm putting gift links to my articles about his work in a 🧵. TLDR is that he petitioned FDA to revoke approval of the polio vaccine for a client that believes polio was "like having a cold."

NEW: @sherylnyt.bsky.social and I dove into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s quest to dismantle vaccine policy, telling the inside story of how his allies from the vaccine activism world and political appointees embarked on a crash course with government scientists. Gift: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...

NEW: The New York Times got a State Dept. cable telling diplomats to destroy visas that had been approved and printed to give to Afghans. And diplomats are told to do scheduled interviews but not grant visas. US shuts all legal entry routes for Afghans. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/u...

NEW: The F.D.A. announced in an internal memo that 10 children died "because of" the Covid shot. Other experts want to see proof. “This is a profound revelation,” Dr. Prasad's memo said. “For the first time, the U.S. F.D.A. will acknowledge that Covid-19 vaccines have killed American children.”

@greenhousemd.bsky.social kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t... #medsky

NEW: ByHeart says that a lab found botulism-causing bacteria in its baby formula. 31 babies in 15 states have been hospitalized. One dad of a baby who was gradually paralyzed by the botulism toxin said his son's cry became a "prolonged, soft moan." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/h...

The new CDC page suggesting that vaccines could cause autism makes 10 mentions of aluminum. Experts I talked to said taking it out would crash half of the childhood schedule immediately: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/h...

NEW: FDA and CDC updated the number of infants treated for botulism illness after drinking ByHeart formula to 31. FDA said some ByHeart formula was still on the shelves when inspectors checked. My story from last week: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/h...

Always cool when this happens. Story in 🧵--->

BREAKING: Infant Formula Company Tied to Botulism Outbreak Had Known Problems A Pennsylvania plant run by the company, ByHeart, was shut down this year after inspectors found mold, a leaking roof and more than 2,500 dead insects in a food production area. GIFT: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/h...

. @sherylnyt.bsky.social went to the conference for the nonprofit @seckennedy.govpeeps.us co-founded: "I’ve come to this anti-vax conference with a message that we need to be more boldly anti-vax," said Mark Gorton, the president of the MAHA Institute, a group that works to advance agenda. GIFT:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA movement has notched win after win from Big Food. But now the food industry is gearing up for a fight: GIFT:

. @nytimes.com's Sarah Kliff found that fetal monitoring at delivery has big problems: 🚨Experts say it leads to unnecessary surgeries as doctors overreact to erratic readouts 🚨 OBs are putting more trust than ever on the flawed technology, often putting legal concerns ahead of patients GIFT:

Twists and turns all night on this story. George Tidmarsh, FDA's top drug regulator, told me he resigned because he believed he was facing retaliation. A drug company tells a different story of revenge and alleged extortion, which Dr. Tidmarsh denies: GIFT: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/h...

Most Americans want the Epstein files released, poll finds www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

Breaking News: President Trump threatened on social media to resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time in 33 years.

NEW: Steven Hatfill, the biosecurity expert and opponent of mNRA research, tells me he was fired by RFK Jr.'s chief of staff as part of "a coup to overthrow Mr. Kennedy." HHS says he misrepresented himself & didn't play well in the sandbox. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...

They left a few stones unturned ... Not easy to find, but there are ways. It should be more transparent.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go." The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:

NEW: President Trump said we need to take aluminum out of vaccines. Experts say it is safe -- and removing it would jeopardize the supply of vaccines that cover polio, a deadly type of flu and whooping cough: gift link - www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/h...

"Two weeks into the government shutdown, the Trump administration has frozen or canceled nearly $28 billion that had been reserved for more than 200 projects primarily located in Democratic-led cities, congressional districts and states, according to an analysis by The New York Times."

Breaking News: The Supreme Court rejected Alex Jones’s appeal of an order to pay $1.4 billion in damages to Sandy Hook families. The families were awarded the money after suing Jones for defamation. nyti.ms/470OTQl

Never. Forget.

“Secretary Kennedy is entitled to his views. But he is not entitled to put people’s health at risk.” Six former surgeons general condemn RFK Jr.

NEW: The same day Pres. Trump announced a link b/t Tylenol & autism, Aaron Siri, Kennedy's former campaign lawyer, petitioned the FDA to add a warning. He told me that he did not know if his office, which sought clients, had any against makers of Tylenol. Gift: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/h...

NEW: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s close ally has raised ethical concerns by leading legal efforts on vaccines, fluoride and Tylenol. His vaccine efforts are largely funded by a nonprofit led by a man who said in July that polio "is like having a cold." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/h...

He grew up in Brooklyn. He was a track & field Olympian and an educator. He was born in Guyana and ICE apparently wants to send him back: GIFT: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...

“.. My main takeaway is that America is not a safe place to work,” Mr. Park said. “I don’t think I would go there again to work.” @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/w...

NEW: Approval of an old generic to treat autism symptoms upended the FDA's usual process. Some experts worry that the limits of the drug will get lost in the hype. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/h...

NEW: Will everyone need a prescription to get a Covid vaccine? Kennedy's newly-formed vaccine committee is going to vote on this very soon. About 90% of people got those shots at a pharmacy -- with no vaccine. This is very likely to limit access. Watch here: www.youtube.com/live/_9ChY9S...

SCOOP: FDA sent a warning letter to obesity drug seller Hims & Hers, saying that their website made "false or misleading" claims about its compounded drugs. w/ @rebecca robbins & @dani blum www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/s...

NEW: The F.D.A. is reviewing about two dozen reports of deaths in young people after vaccination to present to an influential CDC panel that could limit access to the shots. Through '23, about 1,800 children died from the virus. w/ @apoorvanyt.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/h...

@SecKennedy is due to testify before Senate Finance now. As @sherylnyt.bsky.social writes: "Trump memorably said he would let Kennedy “go wild on health.” Now the secretary is expected to face questions from lawmakers who suggest he may have gone a little too wild." Follow LIVE updates here:

A top House committee released more than 33,000 pages of records on Tuesday that the Justice Department had turned over last month in connection with its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, as Republican leaders toiled to tamp down pressure in their ranks for more transparency.