All posts tagged: vaccine

Fauci Deputy Who Refused COVID-19 Vaccine Feared Retaliation: Emails

Fauci Deputy Who Refused COVID-19 Vaccine Feared Retaliation: Emails

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A top government doctor who declined to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 was worried he would lose his job and medical license in retaliation, according to newly obtained emails. The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., on May 30, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times “There were times when I was worried about losing my job especially when we first started receiving emails about [vaccine] mandate deadlines,” Dr. Matthew Memoli, who led the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases clinical studies unit at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) during the COVID-19 pandemic, said in one missive to a NIAID spokesman. He added later that he was more concerned about losing his medical license because he was aware there were “protections for government employees.” “Washington, DC directly threatened to take away my medical license which would have threatened my job (I need a medical license) so I applied for a Virginia license and protected myself that way,” Memoli also wrote in the email, …

The Download: how humans make decisions, and Moderna’s vaccine word games

The Download: how humans make decisions, and Moderna’s vaccine word games

Published by skeptic

—Sarah Scoles This article is from the next issue of our print magazine, packed with stories all about nature. Subscribe now to read the full thing when it lands on Wednesday, April 22. What’s in a name? Moderna’s “vaccine” vs. “therapy” dilemma  Moderna, the covid-19 shot maker, is using its mRNA technology to destroy tumors through a very, very promising technique known as a cancer vacc—  “It’s not a vaccine,” a spokesperson for Merck said before the V-word could be uttered. “It’s an individualized neoantigen therapy.”  Oh, but it is a vaccine, and it looks like a possible breakthrough. But it’s been rebranded to avoid vaccine fearmongering—and not everyone is happy about the word game. Read the full story.  —Antonio Regalado This article is from The Checkup, our weekly newsletter covering the latest in biotech. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday.  The must reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Sam Altman’s home has been attacked twice in two days A driver reportedly fired a gun at his property on Sunday. (SF Standard) + A Molotov cocktail was thrown at his home on Friday. (NBC News) + The suspect wrote essays warning AI would end humanity. (SF Chronicle) + The attacks expose growing divides in opinion on AI. (Axios)  2 AI weapons are ushering in a new kind of arms race Countries are racing to deploy AI …

CDC Caught Burying Report on Real Effects of COVID Vaccine

CDC Caught Burying Report on Real Effects of COVID Vaccine

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech The Trump administration’s assault on vaccine science has taken a predictable turn. Bombshell reporting from the Washington Post just revealed that Jay Bhattacharya, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has secretly blocked publication of a report that concludes COVID-19 vaccines are a significant boost to public health. Two CDC scientists, speaking to WaPo anonymously out of fear for retaliation, said the report found that COVID vaccines drastically minimize risk of hospitalization after catching the virus. According to the study, healthy adults who received a jab reduced their risk of urgent care visits by 50 percent, and their risk of a hospital stay by 55 percent, compared to those who went unvaccinated. The report had been slated to run on March 19 in the CDC’s research journal, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Bhattacharya, however, delayed the piece, arguing that there were concerns with the study’s methodology. “Dr. Bhattacharya wants to make sure that …

DOGE Made Drastic Cuts to a Global Vaccine Assistance Program. Now There’s a Deadly Measles Outbreak in Bangladesh

DOGE Made Drastic Cuts to a Global Vaccine Assistance Program. Now There’s a Deadly Measles Outbreak in Bangladesh

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Even after prolonged chaos, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency didn’t end up saving taxpayers much money. It did, however, manage to devastate global health infrastructure on its way out. For evidence, look no further than Bangladesh, currently in the grips of one of the worst measles outbreaks in recent memory. According to the Guardian, over 100 children have died as a result of gaps in vaccination coverage, with more than 900 confirmed measles cases reported since the viral flare-up began in March. Two thirds of those impacted are over nine months old, the outlet reported, the age at which infants typically become eligible for measles inoculation. The United Nations has helped the Bangladeshi government kickstart an emergency vaccination drive, but for many families, the damage has already been done. At the heart of the public health failure lies a shortage of vaccine stockpiles. That shortage traces back, at least in part, to the wave of DOGE-driven spending …

RFK Jr.’s new vaccine panel rules may help sidestep court order, experts say

RFK Jr.’s new vaccine panel rules may help sidestep court order, experts say

Published by Sam Flores

New rules approved by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could blunt the impact of a federal judge’s order freezing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee and putting many of its decisions on hold, experts say. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The changes were posted online Thursday in a new charter for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP — the document that lays out how the panel is supposed to operate. The CDC is required to review and renew the charter every two years, although it rarely makes significant changes. The charter was posted nearly a month after a Massachusetts federal judge, in a lawsuit brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics and several other medical organizations, halted Kennedy’s remade ACIP and reversed many of the vaccine policy changes the panel had made over the last year — a move that adds further confusion over vaccine policy in the U.S. The judge said the committee’s members, many of whom …

As vaccine rates continue to decline here’s how you can protect your family

As vaccine rates continue to decline here’s how you can protect your family

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore As the risk of measles remains an ongoing concern, herd immunity in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, is already slipping. According to data obtained via The Washington Post in January 2026, 1 in 3 Allegheny County kindergartners were in a classroom too far below adequate vaccination coverage to stop a measles outbreak during the 2023-24 school year. A professor from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health, Kar-Hai Chu, and a research program supervisor, Maggie Slavin, answered our questions about declining measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates and what it means for the future of public health. Private and parochial/religious schools in Allegheny County fall below the herd immunity threshold, while public schools tend not to. What explains that gap, and should it concern us? Research shows the disparity between vaccination coverage in private and parochial/religious versus public schools is that private …

What’s in a name? Moderna’s “vaccine” vs. “therapy” dilemma

What’s in a name? Moderna’s “vaccine” vs. “therapy” dilemma

Published by skeptic

Mechanistically, it’s similar to the covid-19 vaccines. What’s different, of course, is that the patient is being immunized against a cancer, not a virus. And it looks like a possible breakthrough. This year, Moderna and Merck showed that such shots halved the chance that patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer would die from a recurrence after surgery. In its formal communications, like regulatory filings, Moderna hasn’t called the shot a cancer vaccine since 2023. That’s when it partnered up with Merck and rebranded the tech as individualized neoantigen therapy, or INT. Moderna’s CEO said at the time that the renaming was to “better describe the goal of the program.” (BioNTech, the European vaccine maker that’s also working in cancer, has shifted its language too, moving from “neoantigen vaccine” in 2021 to “mRNA cancer immunotherapies” in its latest report.) The logic of casting it as a therapy is that patients already have cancer—so it’s a treatment as opposed to a preventive measure. But it’s no secret what the other goal is: to distance important …

No One Knows Where US Vaccine Policy Goes Next

No One Knows Where US Vaccine Policy Goes Next

Published by skeptic

Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pursued an aggressive overhaul of federal vaccine guidance and infrastructure since he took office a little over a year ago. Now, his agenda is on hold after a federal judge blocked many of those changes and as reports surface that the White House is reining in his anti-vaccine rhetoric ahead of the midterm elections. What’s next for US vaccine policy will depend on the outcome of a federal court case, and whether Kennedy is allowed to resume his crusade against vaccines after November. Even if the Trump administration pivots to a more science-backed approach to vaccines, public health experts worry about the long-term effects of Kennedy’s tenure to date. “It’s unknown what these ramifications are going to look like,” says Syra Madad, chief biopreparedness officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health care system in the US. “Already, we’re seeing more vaccine hesitancy. We’re seeing the rise of vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles.” A longtime vaccine conspiracy theorist, Kennedy dropped Covid-19 vaccine recommendations …

RSV vaccine rollout expanded to over-80s in England

RSV vaccine rollout expanded to over-80s in England

Published by skeptic

The NHS has expanded access to the RSV vaccine in England, making millions more older adults eligible as health officials aim to reduce seasonal pressure on hospitals caused by respiratory infections. From April 2026, all adults aged 80 and over, as well as residents in care homes for older people, can receive the RSV vaccine. The policy shift significantly broadens the programme, which previously targeted individuals aged 75 to 79 and those turning 75 since its launch in 2024. Michelle Kane, NHS Director of Vaccination and Screening Delivery, urges those eligible to get the vaccine as soon as possible: “Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is not just a winter illness; it can occur all year round and can make older people seriously ill, so it is vital everyone eligible gets vaccinated. “The vaccine has been proven to drastically reduce the chance of those aged 75 and over from ending up in hospital with an RSV infection, so if you’re seeing loved ones or family members who are eligible for a vaccine over the Easter break, please do …

Is Mexico’s massive measles vaccine campaign a success? : NPR

Is Mexico’s massive measles vaccine campaign a success? : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Medical personnel in Mexico City administer measles vaccines at a mass vaccination event on February 11. Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto/via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto/via Getty Images In Mexico, a sweeping measles outbreak has triggered a sweeping response — a campaign to vaccinate 2.5 million people a week. In the capital, posters are plastered with QR codes for people to look up the nearest spot for vaccination. Nurses go door-to-door, and there are pop-up vaccine stations in bakeries, bus stations, cinemas, shopping malls, roundabouts —- you name it. WhatsApp groups are pinged with waiting times at various centers. “People were very worried,” says Erica Briones Chavez, a nurse in a public medical center in Mexico City’s Chapultepec neighborhood. “For a couple of months we were doing two to three hundred vaccinations a day — mothers, fathers, teenagers and babies. Even the grandparents wanted to get vaccinated.” People were queueing up for two hours. Some infectious disease experts have lauded the effort. But there are critics. Sergio Meneses Navarro, a researcher at Mexico’s National Institute …