Wondering what vaccines to get this fall or whether they will even be available?
Most will be, but maybe for the last time. Make sure your family is up to date while you still can.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
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-- Angie Rasmussen (@angierasmussen.bsky.social) August 26, 2025 at 9:51 AM
It's almost time for kids to go back to school and seasonal respiratory viruses to start circulating again in the northern hemisphere. CSL-Seqirus, a major manufacturer of flu vaccines based in Australia, announced last week that it was laying off 15% of its workforce and restructuring the company due to "unprecedented volatility" in the US market. A friend with upcoming travel reached out to ask me if he should get a COVID vaccine now or wait a month or two for updated shots -- or if there would even be updated shots. Journalists in general have been asking me, in light of US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s multi-front war on American vaccination, whether vaccines will even be available and how this will affect countries outside the US. Will we have vaccines this fall?
The answer to this is mostly yes, Americans will have access to most vaccines this fall, but maybe not COVID. Other countries should not be affected, with some caveats. That's not great news, but it's also not "no vaccines." Unfortunately, that applies to this year only. While Kennedy's attempt to destroy population immunity in America is unprecedented, it is working. The impact of these policies will not be felt for some time, since outbreaks require a critical mass of susceptible people to take off.
Often, congregate settings with a lot of unvaccinated people are where epidemics are amplified. Daycares and schools are prime locations for a virus to take hold in a population and spread outward into the community, hence the requirements for vaccination. People are understandably concerned and confused about vaccine access, especially for their kids. I'll try to provide some clarity.
COVID: Kennedy came for COVID-19 vaccines first, probably because uptake is relatively low, in part because of all the disinformation about these vaccines. A competent HHS secretary would try to improve updated COVID vaccination rates, since COVID vaccines work and are safe. Kennedy wants to tank them even further, taking us further down the slippery slope of eliminating as many vaccines as possible...
So where does that leave this season's updated COVID shots? They haven't yet been approved, although that should happen any day now based on when these approvals occurred in the past few years. Per the standard processes, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) would review evidence and vote on a recommendation for CDC Director Susan Monarez to sign...
If the updated shots aren't approved, then Americans will only be able to access the 2024-2025 shots, which are in short supply as providers clear out old stock in anticipation of the updated vaccines. Currently FDA recommends that the updated shot should be a monovalent (targeting only 1 strain) JN.1 variant. Current COVID mRNA vaccines target the KP.2 variants. Both JN.1 and KP.2 are both Omicron (as is all SARS-CoV-2 since 2021) and they aren't that different. The "old" shots will still provide a lot of protection this fall and winter, but not approving any new shots signals no updated shots for the foreseeable future. As SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve (which it will do faster now as fewer people are vaccinated and protection wanes), the 2024-2025 vaccines will be less and less protective. Americans will gradually lose access to COVID vaccines altogether...
Flu:...Considering last flu season was the most severe since the 2009 pandemic, there is a real need to increase vaccine uptake as much as possible. Everyone over 6 months old should get a flu shot. Older people should get a higher dose to compensate for waning immunity. There are two kinds of flu vaccines and both are trivalent formulations targeting 3 flu strains: H1N1, H3N2, and influenza B. The standard inactivated split-virion vaccines are easiest to access and that's usually what I get. These are the vaccines grown in eggs or cell culture, then inactivated, the virus particles are broken up, and injected intramuscularly. There is also FluMist, which is a live-attenuated vaccine you can take by nose spray at home. You should get either kind, just so long you get it. Generally it's a good idea to try to get your flu vaccine sometime in October, as that timing allows for the highest antibody titers at peak flu season.
And because I know people will ask, these are seasonal flu vaccines and they don't protect against bird flu. However, they do elicit immune responses, specifically to the H1N1 component, that have cross-protective effects against H5N1 on the basis of the shared N1 subtype. Besides, seasonal flu vaccines reduce transmission, reduce infection risk, and lower the likelihood of reassortment in a human co-infected with a seasonal virus and H5N1. This is especially important, because gutting mRNA vaccines means we are stuck with technology that is slower and more dangerous to manufacture. H5N1 is definitely still around in animals and it probably is in dairy and poultry workers too. As seasonal flu picks back up, it is really important to reduce the risk of co-infections, to reduce the likelihood of a bird flu pandemic...
So far this year, more than 3.7 million COVID cases have been reported in the U.S., causing 261,049 hospitalizations and 17,289 deaths.
-- BNO News (Health) (@health.bnonews.com) August 24, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Caveats: The source for this is, more or less, Aseem Malhotra running his mouth. He's probably trying to manifest this outcome.
But, I continue to shake my head at the failure of the medical establishment to snuff out anti-vax goons like Peter Doshi, who's shoddy, 'work' is the stated basis.
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-- Clean Observer (@hammbear2024.bsky.social) August 25, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Re blue state coordination, apparently something is cooking wrt public health service coordination
(the states in question are the new england states minus new hampshire plus new york, new jersey, and Pennsylvania)
mobileapp.bostonglobe.com/08242025_f01...
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-- Jessica Huỳnh (@jessicahuynh.bsky.social) August 24, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Health Canada has approved Moderna's newly updated Covid vaccine -- and for the first time, the vaccines will be manufactured in Canada. globalnews.ca/news/1134908... #medsky
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-- Pearl Freier (@pearlf.bsky.social) August 26, 2025 at 9:05 AM
I've signed; I encourage you to do the same
RFK Jr is arguably the most extreme, dangerous anti-vaxx activist/conspiracy theorist on earth -- it's horrific he's leading the nation's public health system
Also, his 2 main allies, Bhattacharya & Makary, shown in the photo, are also doing HUGE damage
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-- Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) August 26, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Before RFK Jr. fired an entire CDC vaccine advisory panel citing industry influence, conflicts of interest had been at a historic low according to a new study from the USC Schaeffer Center.
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-- Center for Science in the Public Interest (@cspinet.org) August 21, 2025 at 7:03 PM
You're not dropping a single, asshole.
If you're actually knew anything, it would be criminal not to reveal it now. But of course, this is a bullshit publicity stunt.
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-- Carl T. Bergstrom (@carlbergstrom.com) August 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM
#Coronavirus research is still producing new insights: #SARSCoV2 apparently infects testicular cells & uses cellular machinery to replicate, according to a new study from Brazil. The research also revealed SARS2 particles in cell structures responsible for testosterone production👇
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-- Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) August 21, 2025 at 6:41 PM
#LongCovid is more than fatigue. A new study suggests its impact is similar to a stroke or Parkinson's theconversation.com/long-covid-i...
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-- Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) August 25, 2025 at 8:14 AM
"Immunologists tell me that the average person's immune system looks different than it did in 2019. That we're walking around with more inflammation, and with immune systems that don't work quite as well as they did in the beforetimes (on average)."
Source: canadahealthwatch.ca/newsletter/2...
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-- Denis - The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) August 24, 2025 at 10:07 PM
UK: Numbers Suggest a New Covid Wave Is Already Here.
Hospital COVID positivity increased quickly -- from 7.2% on Aug 6 to 8.8% on Aug 15, a 22% rise in just over a week and 44% in under 3 weeks.
Source: archive.md/Q44WY
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-- Denis - The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) August 26, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Japan: COVID-19 cases increase for the 9th straight week.
The health ministry reported 22,288 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending Aug. 17, marking the 9th straight weekly rise.
In July, 28% of new cases were the Nimbus strain (NB.1.8.1).
Source: www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
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-- Denis - The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) August 26, 2025 at 12:57 AM
New Zealand will no longer give timely COVID death updates. From July 17, 2025, deaths are only reported via the Mortality Collection - a slower process that lags weeks or months. Official counts will look lower, but the deaths are still happening.
Mortality: www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/for-health-p...
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-- Denis - The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) August 26, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Vaccination benefits: The recombinant herpes zoster vaccine -- Shingrix -- not only is associated w/ a reduced risk of an infection that attacks the eyes -- herpes zoster ophthalmicus -- but it also lowers risks of hospitalization for heart attack & stroke. New data from researchers in California👇
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-- Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) August 24, 2025 at 1:14 PM
The administration isn't just taking vaccines away. They aren't responding to outbreaks. They are not preventing disease. They are enabling it.
Essential reading from @amymaxmen.bsky.social.
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
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-- Angie Rasmussen (@angierasmussen.bsky.social) August 25, 2025 at 12:29 PM
One of the most tragic ironies of what the US has done to PEPFAR & USAID is that there is an incredible new drug that could deal a crushing blow to HIV globally.
I wrote about lenacapavir for @foreignpolicy.com & the millions of lives it might not save.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/25/l...
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-- Angie Rasmussen (@angierasmussen.bsky.social) August 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Airplane toilet water may help combat the next pandemic: As everyday pathogens continue developing into deadly superbug variants, researchers think wastewater in commercial aircraft can provide an easy-to-access, cheap & noninvasive source of real-time pandemic monitoring 👇
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-- Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) August 20, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Extreme weather events can be complicated by the emergence of unusual infectious diseases (see "Disaster Microbiology" by Smith & Casadevall. mBio, 2022). This article links two US cases of melioidosis to Hurricane Helene.
arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
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-- Ferric Fang, MD (@fangferric.bsky.social) August 23, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Flesh-eating bacteria in Cape Cod?
It's not just a Gulf problem anymore.
🎧 No Boat Big Enough breaks down how Vibrio vulnificus is spreading fast -- with climate, seafood, and seawater.
Listen now before your next beach day: infectiousdose.com/post/no-boat...
#Vibrio #NecrotizingFasciitis
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-- Heather McSharry, PhD (@pathogenscribe.bsky.social) August 21, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Indonesia reports 17 deaths in measles outbreak, launches vaccine drive
In US developments, New Jersey health officials are tracking transit exposures linked to the state's latest confirmed case.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...
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-- CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) August 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Kansas declares end of measles outbreak as Wisconsin total grows
In other developments, Wisconsin has 5 more cases from Oconto County and Pennsylvania's health department warned of exposure in 4 counties visited by a sick out-of-state traveler.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...
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-- CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) August 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Record mosquito activity this summer involving 2 mosquito-borne diseases -- chikungunya & West Nile virus -- suggests Europe is entering a new normal. Disease-carrying mosquitoes are moving into new regions driven by climate change👇
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-- Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) August 21, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Millions of malaria cases may actually be brucellosis, a bacterial disease primarily affecting animals that's spread to humans. Until recently, scientists didn't know how often brucellosis was mistaken for malaria. Humans contract it via unpasteurized dairy products or meat from infected animals👇
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-- Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) August 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Hey remember that raw milk outbreak in FL? They traced it back to Keely Farms Dairy.
Here's a pic! Cows lounging in a warm stagnant pond that's lush with weeds & algae, thanks to cow poop.
Their raw milk has been making people sick since January for some reason
apnews.com/article/raw-...
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-- Sarah Taber (@sarahtaber.bsky.social) August 21, 2025 at 2:40 PM
When working in healthcare has become an environment with the potential for so much aggression and violence that you need a duress badge (essentially a panic button with geolocator) for on-site work 🤷🏽♀️.
This has escalated incredibly since the pandemic a lot thanks to vilifying health care workers.
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-- BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) August 22, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Truly a perfect bookend when you remember that 'Feral MAGA' didn't really take off as a personality class until folks had three whole weeks of their lives where they couldn't sexually harass an Applebee's server then tip her with a fake hundred telling her to find Jesus.
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-- Zeddy (@zeddary.bsky.social) August 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM