FDA refuses to review Moderna’s application for first mRNA flu vaccine www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/... @rachelroubein.bsky.social

We are absolutely heartbroken by the loss of two-thirds of our Washington Post health team. Editors, please hire these wonderful journalists.

We had devastating cuts to @washingtonpost. Our health team of 14 lost 9 reporters yesterday despite it being listed as part of the Post’s new focus. But I still have my job. Along w/a core team, we are still dedicated to covering public health, holding the powerful to account.

I’m stunned and heartbroken. I’ve been laid off, along with so many dear colleagues. Making my way to The Post nine years ago felt like a dream come true.

It takes all of us to make The Washington Post. Every section works together to create this authoritative, entertaining, worldwide news report. So, Jeff Bezos, #SaveThePost.

"While children in California, which does not allow for nonmedical vaccine exemptions, are vaccinated against measles at 96 percent, there is not a single county in Idaho, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah or Wisconsin whose kindergarten rates meet herd immunity protection."

“Bobby has asked for the following changes,” top Kennedy aide emailed HHS officials. Email reveals his previously undisclosed role in seeking vaccine policy changes in a highly unusual way, per experts/former/current officials. W/ @lenasun.bsky.social @laurenweberhp.bsky.social wapo.st/48YSPC1

BREAKING: US. plans to stop recommending most childhood vaccines, defer to doctors, per sources familiar. HHS consulted w chief science officer and top FDA official. Me and @rachel_roubein 1/4 www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

BREAKING: The U.S. is preparing to stop recommending most childhood vaccines and defer to doctors instead. The plan, which is not finalized, marks a fundamental shift in the U.S. vaccine strategy, @lenasun.bsky.social & @rachelroubein.bsky.social report. Gift link: wapo.st/4aXfzn5

More from our story on FDA: —Officials have held meetings at the WH this week to discuss turmoil at agency —Prasad’s vaccine email wasn’t cleared with HHS or RFK Jr. with @ddiamond.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/ddia...

Ahead of Thanksgiving, Trump health officials thought they’d tamped down on the turmoil at the FDA. But in the last week, the turnover & public concern over the direction of the agency has only grown. Our latest w/ @ddiamond.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/ddia...

The top drug regulator abruptly resigned. Staff complaints piled up. Outside experts warned FDA was in trouble. That was a month ago, prompting urgent meetings. Leaders soon claimed problems were fixed. Then it all happened again in the past week. On FDA chaos w @rachelroubein.bsky.social

RICK PAZDUR is now planning to resign at the end of the year — three weeks after taking the job as FDA's top drug regulator. Big shake-up after a year of turbulence at the agency. Story w @rachelroubein.bsky.social. (And credit to Stat's @lizzylawrence.bsky.social, who beat us out the door.)

The FDA's top vaccine regulator laid out a stricter approach for federal vaccine approvals in an internal email. More on the changes and what this could mean with @ddiamond.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/ddia...

Big change: FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements under RFK Jr ally Vinay Prasad signaled changes to annual flu shots, concurrent vaccines + more Prasad said his team found link between covid-19 shots and kids' deaths, necessitating a new approach overall with @rachelroubein.bsky.social

Pazdur, a longtime FDA employee, has taken issue with Commissioner Marty Makary's plans to reduce the number of research studies needed to justify more drug-related decisions — with Makary arguing just one study is sufficient. Also has warned that new Trump drug voucher plan may not be legal.

exclusive: Rick Pazdur, the official just tapped by Trump administration to be FDA's top drug regulator has privately warned that some of the agency's new initiatives could be illegal and dangerous. w @rachelroubein.bsky.social

RFK Jr.'s campaign against artificial colors has sent the food industry scrambling. Inside one lab where scientists are inventing food dyes of the future ⬇ & photos by Andrew Spear www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

New from this a.m.: ByHeart recalls all baby formula amid botulism outbreak. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

BREAKING: ByHeart, the organic baby formula maker, is recalling all of its formula after an infant botulism outbreak linked to its product. @rachelroubein.bsky.social with the scoop www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

A new WaPo-KFF poll found bipartisan support among American parents for much of RFK Jr.'s concerns about the food supply. But support for his MAHA movement skews along partisan lines. w/ @sfcpoll.bsky.social & Paige Winfield Cunningham bsky.app/profile/sfcp...

NEW: A Washington Post deep dive into surgeon general nominee Casey Means found she blurred sponsorship lines as she promoted supplements and products outside the medical mainstream. Here’s one example. And a gift link to read more: wapo.st/46LWoKQ

Casey Means left her surgical residency in 2018. She's frequently suggested Americans should question advice from medical authorities. Now, she’s HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pick for surgeon general, one of the nation’s most trusted medical posts. https://wapo.st/3KMq0im

She left the medical mainstream and rose to be RFK Jr.'s surgeon general pick Read my and @rachelroubein.bsky.social @washingtonpost.com deep dive on Casey Means www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

NEW: RFKJr’s handpicked vaccine panel met this week. They were unprepared, misunderstood or ignored key data + highlighted flawed or inconclusive research often trumpeted by vaccine critics, per medical/scientific experts who watched meeting @davidovalle.bsky.social @rachelroubein.bsky.social + me.

Sen. Bill Cassidy's decision to support RFK Jr. came down to the morning of a crucial committee vote. Now, he's publicly pressing the nation's top health official to endorse common vaccines & set to quiz a CDC head ousted by RFK. w/ @ddiamond.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Exclusive at WaPo: RFK Jr's aides are prepping new bid to crack down on covid vaccine by linking it to 25 child deaths They appear to be citing submissions to vaccine-report database VAERS — despite caution that it's unreliable. @lenasun.bsky.social @rachelroubein.bsky.social w little help from me

SCOOP: Trump health officials plan to link covid vaccines to the deaths of 25 children as they consider limiting which Americans should get the shots, per sources. W @rachelroubein.bsky.social @ddiamond.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Seven months after they voted to confirm longtime anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr, some Republican senators are having second thoughts after his moves — as public health experts and Democrats warned — to limit access to vaccines. w @theodoricmeyer.bsky.social @rachelroubein.bsky.social

NEW: RFK Jr.’s upending of vaccine policy is driving some states to break away from Trump admin guidelines while others are further loosening shot requirements. Me and @laurenweberhp.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

FDA is now taking aim at common practice of getting multiple respiratory vaccines together Vinay Prasad, a key RFK Jr ally, says he is unsure if the tactic is safe + effective More on a new way that Trump admin is seeking to change vaccine policy w @rachelroubein.bsky.social @lenasun.bsky.social

Important context on the limited approval of coronavirus vaccines and why people might not be able to get them off-label at pharmacies wapo.st/45RvyPx

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

NEW: The CDC shooting was much worse than initially reported. 181 rounds. 150 windows hit. Staff are furious at RFK Jr. and Trump becuz their long-running fears about anti-vax rhetoric turning deadly seem to be vindicated. @laurenweberhp.bluesky.social + Me. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Backstory here on how Vinay Prasad went from getting Loomered to getting his job back as the FDA’s vaccine chief @laurenweberhp.bsky.social & @rachelroubein.bsky.social report: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Federal immigration authorities detained a woman seeking medical care at the National Institutes of Health’s flagship research hospital after the patient presented a non-real ID while passing security.

Vinay Prasad’s clout as one of the most powerful medical regulators was unmistakable. What we know about how it all fell apart in a few weeks — and what it shows about Trump world divisions. w/ Daniel Gilbert and Natalie Allison bsky.app/profile/feni...

How did Vinay Prasad go from covid contrarian beloved by the right to ousted by the White House following a right-wing pressure campaign? Our reporters have the backstory, including how Laura Loomer said he landed on her radar wapo.st/3U8D03n

Vinay Prasad, a covid vaccine policy critic who became the top FDA vaccine and gene therapy regulator, was ousted following criticism from conservatives such as Laura Loomer. @rachelroubein.bsky.social & @lenasun.bsky.social report: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

💉Our rundown of the changes in access to different vaccines under RFK Jr’s HHS: From @lenasun.bsky.social @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @rachelroubein.bsky.social gift link: wapo.st/4mau4q4

Coke just confirmed its cane sugar soda is coming to the U.S. this fall. RFK Jr. described the alternative as a "MAHA win." But nutritionists told @rachelroubein.bsky.social replacing one sugar for another isn't making America healthier www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

On ACIP membership: RFK Jr. has said Sen. Cassidy will choose a member of ACIP. Cassidy said today he's submitted names; at least one is being interviewed. w/ @lenasun.bsky.social & @laurenweberhp.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/lena...

A look at how medical groups are mobilizing to preserve vaccine access: — Discussing potentially ordering shots from manufacturers — Giving greater weight to vax recs from medical societies — Asking plans to maintain coverage of shots with @lenasun.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/lena...

To bypass RFK Jr., medical societies, local health officials and others are creating a shadow system to preserve vaccine access for Americans. @lenasun.bsky.social & @rachelroubein.bsky.social take us inside the counteroffensive wapo.st/3TBmtVd

House Rs seek to eliminate a nutrition program for Americans on food stamps in Trump bill, alarming program leaders who say states would be forced to pare back efforts to improve Americans' health. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

HHS cancels funding for Moderna to develop vaccines to combat bird flu. The company was using mRNA — the same technology hailed as a major medical achievement during the first Trump administration. with @lenasun.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

RFK Jr. removed the coronavirus vaccine from the immunization schedule for otherwise healthy children and pregnant women. This is a rare move that bypasses the traditional system for vaccine recommendations with expert review www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

The era of annual coronavirus vaccination may be ending. The FDA unveiled plans to limit approval to older adults and people with underlying conditions, @rachelroubein.bsky.social & @lenasun.bsky.social report www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Asked if he would vaccinate his own children against measles, the nation's top health official said "probably," then added, “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me." www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/... via @rachelroubein.bsky.social and @laurenweberhp.bsky.social

RFK Jr. to Congress today: “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me” From me and @rachelroubein.bsky.social for @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...