#Vaccination coverage during the pandemic

[covid-safer-hotties]

The US Government Is Shutting Down A Key Covid Website

Tomorrow the US government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research, The National Institutes of Health, will shut down its Covid-19 ‘special populations’ website.

This site hosts a huge amount of information about how to treat covid and long covid in the immunocompromised and in people with HIV, cancer and similar immune supressing conditions - so-called ‘special populations.’

The site is going totally offline.

It’s a shameful dereliction of duty by the NIH which, behind Harvard, is the second largest publisher of biomedical research papers in the world. Doctors and clinicians all over the world use the NIH site for advice and treatment ideas.

And it’s going offline during a massive summer surge of covid infections in the US, a surge that is now topping 1.3 million infections per day. (One of whom was Anthony Fauci, who was infected for the third time last week). A surge killing 750 people a week in the US. Many of whom will be precisely the type of people this website is intended to help clinicians treat.

It’s a scandal.

The message it sends to vulnerable people could hardly be clearer - when it comes to covid, there’s nothing else we can do for you. Sorry. That’s it. We’re done.

It’s so terrifying.

It also sends a terrible signal to the medical community about where we are with covid

and will be materially damaging in efforts to treat vulnerable people, both in the acute stage of the disease and those with long covid.

The move to shut the page down is premised on an entirely false assumption: that we already know everything we’ll ever know about how to manage covid so there’s no point keeping a live web resource because they’ll never be anything to update it with ever again.

This is simply not true. While we know a lot about treating covid four years in, we absolutely do not know everything, not by a long stretch. As evidenced by the hundreds still dying every week in summer 2024. And as for long covid, we know very little about how to treat it. For a start, there is no agreed treatment plan. Absolutely none. But apparently we also know so much about this disease we can start shutting down online resources dedicated to it.

Please imagine for a second if a Trump administration rather than a Biden-Harris administration was doing this.

There would be an outcry.

But this move has so far been greeted by media silence.

It is left to a few disability activists and the covid aware to shout into the social media void.

Not that this is a surprise. This is how it has been for the last two years at least, guided by the business as usual, vax-and-forget strategy. More people have died of covid under the Biden-Harris administration than died under Trump. Despite having vaccines since 2021. You’d never know it by mainstream media coverage.

Some people have written to the director of the NIH, Monica Bertagnolli, and asked them to keep the advice live and up-to-date. If you want to do this her email address is:

monica.bertagnolli@nih.gov

Long Covid Action has archived the site here

Maybe if enough people write to her and enough noise is made the decision will be reversed. Worth a try.

Overall it’s just another grim episode in the handling of the pandemic by the current US administration, an administration who, we should never forget, won power in large part due to the outrage at Trump’s handling of the first nine months of covid.

Solidarity to everyone still trying to protect themselves and their communities from covid against all the odds.

At least we can keep fighting for each other.

[follow-up-news]

Even though a record number of kids died from the flu last year, the percentage of children getting flu shots continues to plummet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that as of Nov. 30, just over a third of U.S. kids — 37% — had gotten flu shots, down from 43% at the same time last year. The downward trend worries pediatricians who are starting to see an uptick in flu cases. “I always have a little bit of dread when flu season is around the corner,” said Dr. Kristina Bryant, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Norton Children’s in Louisville, Kentucky, “because children experience illness and suffering during flu season, and much of that can be prevented through vaccination.” Just over half of kids, 55%, got the flu shot during the 2023-24 season, the lowest rate in 12 years, said Alicia Budd, head of the CDC’s domestic influenza surveillance team. “Flu coverage had been slowly increasing” before Covid hit, Budd said. “Flu vaccination levels have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.” This year’s flu shot covers the two main strains of the virus circulating so far, H1N1 and H3N2.

[thoughtportal]

COVID-19 makes a worrying comeback, WHO warns amid summertime surge

COVID-19 infections are surging globally, including at the Paris Olympics, and are unlikely to decline anytime soon, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. The UN health agency is also warning that more severe variants of the coronavirus may soon be on the horizon.

“COVID-19 is still very much with us,” and circulating in all countries, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove of WHO told journalists in Geneva.

“Data from our sentinel-based surveillance system across 84 countries reports that the percent of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 has been rising over several weeks,” she said. “Overall, test positivity is above 10 per cent, but this fluctuates per region. In Europe, percent positivity is above 20 per cent,” Dr. Van Kerkhove added.

New waves of infection have been registered in the Americas, Europe and Western Pacific. Wastewater surveillance suggests that the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 is two to 20 times higher than what is currently being reported. Such high infection circulation rates in the northern hemisphere’s summer months are atypical for respiratory viruses, which tend to spread mostly in cold temperatures.

“In recent months, regardless of the season, many countries have experienced surges of COVID-19, including at the Olympics where at least 40 athletes have tested positive,” Dr. Van Kerkhove said.

As the virus continues to evolve and spread, there is a growing risk of a more severe strain of the virus that could potentially evade detection systems and be unresponsive to medical intervention. While COVID-19 hospital admissions, including for Intensive Care Units (ICUs), are still much lower than they were during the peak of the pandemic, WHO is urging governments to strengthen their vaccination campaigns, making sure that the highest risk groups get vaccinated once every 12 months.

“As individuals it is important to take measures to reduce risk of infection and severe disease, including ensuring that you have had a COVID-19 vaccination dose in the last 12 months, especially, if you are in an at-risk group,” stressed Dr. Van Kerkhove.

Vaccines availability has declined substantially over the last 12-18 months, WHO admits, because the number of producers of COVID-19 vaccines has recently decreased.“It is very difficult for them to maintain the pace,” Dr. Van Kerkhove explained. “And certainly, they don't need to maintain the pace that they had in 2021 and 2022. But let's be very clear, there is a market for COVID-19 vaccines that are out there.”

Nasal vaccines are still under development but could potentially address transmission, thereby reducing the risk of further variants, infection and severe disease.

“I am concerned, “ Dr. Van Kerkhove said. “With such low coverage and with such large circulation, if we were to have a variant that would be more severe, then the susceptibility of the at-risk populations to develop severe disease is huge,” Dr. Van Kerkhove warned.

[saddiedotdk]

Kamala Harris accomplishments as VP:

Cast tie-breaking vote for the American Rescue Plan of 2021.

Passed the American Rescue Plan, resulting in $1.9 trillion in economic stimulus.

Extended the Child Tax Credit through the American Rescue Plan.

Extended unemployment benefits through the American Rescue Plan.

Passed the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Secured funding for electric school buses in the infrastructure bill.

Secured funding to combat wildfires and droughts in the infrastructure bill.

Secured funding for replacing lead water service lines.

Engaged with lawmakers at least 150 times for infrastructure investment.

Led diplomatic mission to Guatemala and Mexico to address migration issues.

Launched the "Central America Forward" initiative.

Secured $4.2 billion in private sector commitments for Central America.

Visited Paris to strengthen US-France relations.

Visited Singapore and Vietnam to bolster economic and strategic ties.

Visited Poland to support NATO allies during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Visited Romania to support NATO allies during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Launched the "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour.

Visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota.

Passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.

Promoted racial equity in pandemic response through specific initiatives.

Chaired the National Space Council.

Visited NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to promote space policies.

Passed the Freedom to Vote Act in the House.

Passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act in the House.

Built coalitions for voting rights protections.

Supported the Affordable Care Act through specific policy measures.

Expanded healthcare coverage through policy initiatives.

Passed initiatives for debt-free college education.

Hosted a STEM event for women and girls at the White House.

Championed criminal justice reform through specific legislation.

Secured passage of the bipartisan assault weapons ban.

Expanded background checks for gun purchases through legislation.

Increased the minimum wage through specific policy actions.

Implemented economic justice policies.

Expanded healthcare coverage through policy initiatives.

Secured funding for affordable housing.

Secured funding for affordable education initiatives.

Launched the "Justice is Coming Home" campaign for veterans' mental health.

Proposed legislation for easier legal actions against financial institutions.

Strengthened the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Secured investment in early childhood education.

Launched maternal health initiatives.

Launched the "Call to Action to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity".

Made Black maternal health a national priority through policy actions.

Increased diversity in government appointments.

Passed legislation for renewable energy production.

Secured funding for combating climate change.

Passed infrastructure development initiatives.

Secured transportation funding through the infrastructure bill.

Developed a plan to combat climate change.

Reduced illegal immigration through policy actions.

Equitable vaccine distribution through specific policy measures.

Supported small businesses through pandemic recovery funds.

Secured educational resources during the pandemic.

Promoted international cooperation on climate initiatives.

Secured international agreements on climate change.

Passed economic policies benefiting the middle class.

Criticized policies benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the working class.

Promoted racial equity in healthcare through specific actions.

Promoted racial equity in economic policies.

Reduced racial disparities in education through specific initiatives.

Increased mental health resources for underserved communities.

Secured funding for affordable childcare.

Secured federal funding for community colleges.

Increased funding for HBCUs.

Increased vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Secured policies for pandemic preparedness.

Ensured equitable vaccine distribution through policy actions.

Secured international cooperation for COVID-19 responses.

Reduced economic disparities exacerbated by the pandemic.

Passed digital equity initiatives for broadband access.

Expanded rural broadband through specific policies.

Secured cybersecurity policies through legislation.

Protected election integrity through specific actions.

Secured fair and secure elections through policy measures.

Strengthened international alliances through diplomacy.

Supported the Paris Climate Agreement through policy actions.

Led U.S. climate negotiations through international initiatives.

Passed initiatives for clean energy jobs.

Secured policies for energy efficiency.

Reduced carbon emissions through specific legislation.

Secured international climate finance.

Promoted public health policies through specific initiatives.

Passed reproductive health services policies.

Supported LGBTQ+ rights through specific actions.

Secured initiatives to reduce homelessness.

Increased veterans' benefits through legislation.

Secured affordable healthcare for veterans.

Passed policies to support military families.

Secured initiatives for veteran employment.

Increased mental health resources for veterans.

Passed disability rights legislation.

Secured policies for accessible infrastructure.

Increased funding for workforce development.

Implemented economic mobility policies.

Secured consumer protection policies through legislation.

Engaged in community outreach through public events.

Organized public engagement efforts.

Participated in over 720 official events, averaging three per day since taking office.

Supported efforts to modernize public health data systems.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Gideon Taaffe at MMFA:

Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent campaign for president and endorsed the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. Kennedy’s campaign — and arguably his political career — was founded on anti-vaccine beliefs. However, Fox News’ coverage of Kennedy’s endorsement has barely mentioned the former candidate’s record of spreading dangerous vaccine misinformation. Fox personalities have been quick to whitewash Kennedy’s beliefs by calling him a public health advocate, citing his views on food and chronic illness. While Fox has discussed Kennedy a significant amount, the network spent only 3 minutes talking about his unfounded anti-vaccine and COVID-19 beliefs.

RFK Jr. has taken his dangerous conspiracy theories on vaccines to the Trump campaign

Long before COVID-19, Kennedy made a career out of pushing a litany of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and spread the debunked claim that vaccines are linked with autism. He became an anti-vaccine activist with the Children’s Health Defense, where he spread unfounded claims about so-called vaccine injury, global surveillance through microchips, and censorship of vaccine misinformation. [Media Matters, 4/7/23]

Kennedy later was a vector of misinformation during the pandemic, even dubbing the COVID-19 vaccine “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” Kennedy attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci in his book “The Real Anthony Fauci,” which is dedicated to numerous anti-vaccine figures. [FactCheck.org, 8/11/23]

Kennedy has since announced he will be working with Donald Trump should Trump win the election. The former presidential candidate was also linked to “health-focused summits” with TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk. [The New Republic, 8/27/24; Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 8/26/24]

GOP propaganda organ Fox “News” embrace RFK Jr.’s endorsement of Donald Trump (while still remaining on the ballot in most states), yet ignores his anti-vaxxer extremism.

[mariacallous]

Today’s newsletter is about a recent report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

But it’s also about a major policy initiative that helped lots of Americans even though almost nobody seems to have noticed — and how that lack of attention has made it more difficult to renew the program now that it has expired.

The subject of the report is child care. As you may know firsthand ― or if you’ve read HuffPost’s coverage of the issue ― finding quality, affordable child care providers in the U.S. is difficult. A big reason is that it costs a lot of money to run a high-performing child care center, and the fees to sustain that kind of operation are more than many families can afford.

These problems have existed for years but got even worse during the coronavirus pandemic, when public health closures and illness-related absences reduced revenue for providers, putting some into debt while forcing others to reduce capacity or close. Those that survived struggled to hire (or rehire) workers once demand returned, in part because they were increasingly competing with retail and hospitality industries that could raise wages more easily.

The federal government stepped in by providing $24 billion in emergency assistance as part of the American Rescue Plan, which Democrats in Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed in early 2021. The money went directly to state governments, which, in turn, gave it to providers. Some used it for workers, while others used it to maintain equipment or acquire equipment. Others paid off debts.

All of this made a big difference, according to that new Council of Economic Advisers report I mentioned.

In particular, the council’s economists determined, emergency child care money:

“Saved families with young children who rely on paid child care,”

“Helped hundreds of thousands of women with young children enter or reenter the workforce more quickly,” and

“Boosted the child care workforce and helped raise the real wages of child care workers.”

These conclusions make intuitive sense. And although the council is part of the White House, its staff is composed of well-credentialed economists who have a legal mandate to provide objective analysis ― and these conclusions make intuitive sense. In other words, there’s good reason to think this Biden-Democratic initiative propped up child care at a moment of crisis, preserving access for a significant number of families.

That’s a big deal. Just ask any working parent — or any employer, for that matter. But few Americans even realize Biden and the Democrats in Congress took this action, let alone that it had such an impact.

So what happened? And what does that tell us about how politics works nowadays? I have a few ideas about that...

Why Nobody Noticed The Child Care Money

For one thing, the child care assistance was part of a larger bill that never generated much of a substantive debate, except when it came to its overall size. And it went through Congress at a time when other news stories, such as the distribution of (still new) COVID vaccines, were getting a lot more attention.

What’s more, the assistance wasn’t in the form of checks with Biden’s name on them that went to families. It was money that went through states directly to providers.

Then there’s the fact that the program’s effects consisted primarily of things that didn’t happen rather than things that did. Child care costs didn’t rise as fast as they would otherwise. Providers that would have closed stayed open. Workers who might have left child care for positions in retail or hospitality didn’t. Working parents, especially women, didn’t cut back hours or leave the workforce.

You’re not going to recognize this kind of effect unless you contemplate the counterfactual ― in other words, what might have happened without the assistance in place. And that’s just not how most people think.

What’s Happening To Child Care Now

As it happens, a version of that counterfactual may be starting to play out now, because the temporary assistance program has expired. On Oct. 1, the federal government stopped writing new assistance checks.

That might not seem significant, given that the pandemic emergency is effectively over. But the system’s pre-existing problems are still there ― and now appear to be compounded by other, newer factors, like those tight labor markets that make it even harder for providers to hire and retain qualified workers.

It takes a while for money to work its way through government bureaucracies, so it’s going to take time to see just how big a deal the end of federal emergency funds will be. Many experts (including several quoted in this October Vox article) have raised questions about the most dire predictions, which suggest 3 million child care slots could vanish nationwide.

But it’s hard to imagine there won’t be some fallout. Already there are reports of sporadic closures around the country. That includes in rural communities of western North Carolina, where a nonprofit agency called the Southwestern Child Development Commission announced in late October that seven centers were shutting down.

Sheila Hoyle, the commission’s executive director, confirmed to me by phone that the end of federal emergency funds was the catalyst that led to the closings, which in turn reduced available slots for children by more than 300. And while many of the kids ended up with other providers, Hoyle said, the new arrangements for families — at least, the ones that were able to find them — are generally less well-suited to parent working hours, came with higher expenses for parents, or both.

“We’re asking our parents to patch together programs that weren’t designed to fulfill the needs of working parents, and we need to ask what happens to that child,” Hoyle said. “There’s Grandma or Grandpa on Tuesday, and Daddy gets off early on Fridays, and Mama tries to do Monday and Wednesday, and then you take them to a relative’s house or a next-door neighbor’s house.”

“It’s all just getting by,” Hoyle added, “and just getting by is not what we intend for young children who need a good solid early childhood learning experience while their families work, so that they can succeed in school and eventually become successful young adults.”

How ‘Invisible’ Policy Creates Political Problems

The Biden administration and Democratic leaders in Congress want to do something about that, by restoring at least some of the funding, starting with $16 billion for the coming year. The hope is to attach something to a must-pass spending bill whenever an opportunity presents itself.

But it will take political pressure to round up the votes, especially given Republican skepticism of federal spending and conservative doubts about the structure of federal child care assistance. And it’s hard to generate pressure to restore a program most Americans never knew existed.

Of course, this is not exactly a new problem for Biden, or for Democrats more generally.

Programs nowadays frequently operate invisibly through indirect grants to states or via the tax code, in what political scientist Susan Mettler has called “the submerged state.” Other initiatives are more visible but, like the pandemic child care finding, have primarily prevented bad outcomes rather than creating good ones.

Those problems help explain why, for example, Democrats weren’t able to extend another pandemic measure, a tax credit for children, even though its existence had caused child poverty to plummet. It expired at the end of 2021. Now child poverty is back up, and virtually nobody seems to recognize what it accomplished or Biden’s role in initially reducing it ― making it even harder to get such a program going again. It’s even possible that the expiration of these programs is contributing to voter frustration with Biden, saddling him with blame for the end of assistance that he’s been trying to save.

Politics is like that sometimes, with credit or blame for policy falling in ways that align poorly with what elected officials have actually done. But if Biden and the Democrats lose next November, the chances of meaningful new investments in child care — and plenty of other, similar needs — will be even lower than they are now.

[readingsquotes]

At the last minute, Harris added expanding Medicare to cover some home care and addressing the high costs of ambulance rides, into her platform. But it was too little, too late. (Notably, Harris backed Medicare for All during her 2020 campaign.)

“I think the result of elections around the world have shown that ‘back to normal’ messaging was ineffective, with many incumbent governments losing office in large part due to a failure in acknowledging people’s pain and providing real plans to help people in the long term,” said Tran.

Trump’s brand of economic populism appealed to voters who are hoping for something different. But if things were already bad when it comes to health care, public health agencies, and health research, they are bound to get worse over the next four years. 

“A second Trump presidency will erode essential public health and health care infrastructure, increase distrust in science and public health, and will put many people at greater risk of death and serious illness,” Tran warned.

Though Trump is no longer saying he necessarily wants to repeal the ACA—and is in fact now taking credit for “saving” it (um, OK), he can still do a ton of damage to this important health insurance program. For example, Democrats are worried about a looming expiration to ACA deductible subsidies, which make coverage possible for many, and fewer protections for people with preexisting conditions (that is to say: most people) who could not get health care before Obamacare outside of employer-sponsored plans. 

Beyond that, Trump says he’ll let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild on health” and plans to give him a high-level Cabinet role, perhaps leading the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, who has zero health experience (and who once suffered from a literal brain worm) is a notorious anti-vaxxer—so much so that his views got him kicked off Facebook. An HHS under his watch would surely limit access to vaccines, leading to outbreaks of diseases we thought we left behind in the twentieth century. Even if he is unable to outright ban vaccines, his efforts would surely stigmatize and discourage them. In a time when we still need a durable, variant-proof Covid vaccine and bird flu threatens to become a new pandemic, the outcome will be devastating.

“All of the policies which make the U.S. more vulnerable to Covid will also make the U.S. less prepared for future pandemic threats like bird flu because to prevent them we need health agencies that are competent, objective, and transparent; wide access to prevention and treatment tools; and strong trust in science and public health information, all of which will be under attack by the new administration,” said Tran.

Kennedy has also pledged to cut funding to the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and National Institutes of Health, which means more public health disruptions such as listeria outbreaks, as well as inaccurate or absent public messaging about current and future diseases, and less funding for biomedical research to help us understand and treat diseases affecting millions of Americans. 

[autisticadvocacy]

On May 11th, 2023, the Biden administration will end the national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) related to COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over. Ending the public health emergency will harm many people. Over a million people have died. The number of COVID cases are at record highs, and over 3,000 people in the United States are still dying of COVID every week. Less than 20% of the US has the bivalent booster. This is especially true for marginalized people. For all of these reasons, COVID is continuing to harm our communities.

Ending the public health emergency gives the dangerous impression that the COVID-19 pandemic is over. People need to continue to think about risk and community transmission. People need to continue to mask, people need to ensure that they are up to date with all boosters. People with developmental disabilities are especially vulnerable to COVID-19. Many in our community have additional risk factors, like heart or lung issues. COVID-19 is especially dangerous in congregate settings such as nursing homes, and it will continue to spread. COVID-19 was the leading cause of death for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in 2020. People with disabilities, low income people, and people of color are more likely to have bad outcomes from COVID-19, including death.

Ending the PHE will negatively impact health care and health care coverage, especially for marginalized people who had difficulty accessing care even before the pandemic. During the public health emergency, Medicaid coverage has been more open and flexible than usual in many states. Medicaid has had enhanced federal funding. States could also not take people off of Medicaid. Over 19 million people enrolled in Medicaid since February 2020, whether due to this expansion or people who newly qualified due to changes in disability status, financial status, or age. On April 1, states will be able to reduce coverage and will no longer have the enhanced federal funding for Medicaid. Millions of people will no longer qualify and lose Medicaid coverage. Even more will lose coverage even though they still qualify, because the requirements to keep this coverage will be more demanding. The groups who will lose the most coverage despite qualifying will disproportionately be children and people of color. This is expected to be the biggest increase in uninsured children in the history of the United States.

Hospitals that relied on pandemic-response higher reimbursement rates for Medicare and flexible waivers and eligibility requirements for certain classes of health care will no longer receive these payments. This will result in decreased access to care. Ending these reimbursements will leave hospitals worse-equipped to handle future Covid cases. This is especially bad because COVID-19 is a mass disabling event. Health systems serving hard-hit communities will struggle to meet the additional medical need COVID has brought about. This will mean that many people who need health care because they became disabled from COVID will not have access to it.

Cost sharing provisions for COVID-19 tests for people on private insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare are ending. People on these plans will have to pay more for COVID tests. Tests will become less available as a result, leading to more spread and less-accurate information about COVID risk in communities. Uninsured people used to be covered for COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines, but without additional federal funding for these programs, people without insurance have been left vulnerable since last spring.

Ending the public health emergency also means there will be fewer tools to help people make informed decisions about COVID. States will stop having to report COVID-19 data to the government. ASAN had to end our COVID-19 case tracker for congregate settings in January of this year due to lack of data. This lack of information will make it hard for people to find out how much COVID is circulating in their communities. It also makes it more difficult to see the impact specifically on marginalized communities.

The public health emergency status provided care to many people who need care to survive the pandemic. Ending it harms our communities. COVID-19 is not over.

[broadlyepi]

MMWR Booster #7: Progress Toward Measles and Rubella Elimination — India, 2005–2021

Top 5 Takeaways

Increased Vaccine Coverage: From 2005 to 2021, coverage with the first dose of a measles-containing vaccine (MCV) increased from 68% to 89%, and the second dose from 27% to 82%.

Decline in Disease Incidence: Measles and rubella incidence decreased by 62% and 48% respectively during 2017–2021.

Implementation of National Strategies: This includes the introduction of the rubella-containing vaccine (RCV) in 2017 and large-scale supplementary immunization activities (SIAs).

Challenges During COVID-19: The pandemic led to a decrease in routine vaccination coverage and challenges in surveillance sensitivity.

Future Goals: The “Roadmap to Measles and Rubella Elimination in India by 2023” aims to intensify efforts towards eliminating these diseases with a focus on district-level implementation.

link to full summary: BroadlyEpi.com

Enjoying these summaries? Check back every day at 8am and 4pm Pacific Time (UTC - 8) for a new MMWR Booster. A reblog would also be greatly appreciated, and thanks to everyone who already has! BroadlyEpi hopes to make Epidemiology and Public Health more approachable to anyone who's interested.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 3, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

On Saturday, April 1, the emergency measures Congress put in place to extend medical coverage at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic expired. This means that states can end Medicaid coverage for people who do not meet the pre-pandemic eligibility requirements, which are based primarily on income. As many as 15 million of the 85 million people covered by Medicaid could lose coverage, although most will be eligible for other coverage either through employers or through the Affordable Care Act. The 383,000 who will fall through the cracks are in the 10 states that have refused to expand Medicaid.

The pandemic prompted the United States to reverse 40 years of cutbacks to the social safety net. These cuts were prescribed by Republican politicians who argued that concentrating money upward would promote economic growth by enabling private investment in the economy. That “supply side” economic policy, they said, would expand the economy so effectively that everyone would prosper. In 2017, Republicans passed yet another tax cut, primarily for the wealthy and for corporations, to advance this policy.

As the economy fell apart during the coronavirus pandemic, though, it was clear the government must do something to shore up the tattered social safety net, and even Republicans got on board fast. On March 6, 2020, Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, allocating $8.3 billion to fund vaccine research and give money to states and local governments to try to stop the spread of the virus. On March 18, he signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provided food assistance, sick leave, $1 billion in unemployment insurance, and Covid testing. On the same day, the Federal Housing Administration put moratoriums on foreclosure and eviction for people with government-backed loans.

On March 27, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), which appropriated $2.3 trillion, including $500 billion for companies, $349 billion for small businesses, $175 billion for hospitals, $150 billion to state and local government, $30.75 billion for schools and universities, individual one-time cash payments, and expanded unemployment benefits.

Trump signed another stimulus package on April 24, 2020, which appropriated another $484 billion. And on December 27, 2020, he signed another $900 billion stimulus and relief package.

When he took office, President Joe Biden promised to rebuild the American middle class. He and the Democratic Congress began to shift the government’s investment from shoring up the social safety net to repairing the economy. On March 19, 2021, he signed the American Rescue Plan into law, putting $1.9 trillion behind economic stimulus and relief proposals.

Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Law, also known as the Bipartisan infrastructure Act, on November 15, 2021, putting $1.2 trillion into so-called hard infrastructure projects: roads and bridges and broadband.

On August 9, 2022, he signed the CHIPS and Science Act, putting about $280 billion in new funding behind scientific research and the manufacturing of semiconductors. And days later, on August 16, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Law, putting billions behind addressing climate change and energy security while also raising money to pay for new policies and to reduce the deficit by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy, funding the Internal Revenue Service to stop cheating, and permitting Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over drug prices.

This dramatic investment in the demand side, rather than the supply side, of the economy helped to spark record inflation, compounded by supply chain issues that created shortages and encouraged price gouging. To combat that inflation, the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates. Numbers released Friday show that inflation cooled in February, suggesting that the Federal Reserve is seeing the downward trend it has been hoping for, although there is concern that the sudden decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) this weekend to slash production of crude oil might drive the price of oil back up, dragging prices with it.

That investment in the demand side of the economy also meant that the child poverty rate in the U.S. fell almost 30%, while food insufficiency fell by 26% in households that received the expanded child tax credit. The U.S. economy recovered faster than that of any other G7 nation after the worst of the pandemic. Wages for low-paid workers grew at their fastest rate in 40 years, with real income growing by 9%. MIddle-income workers’ wages grew by only between 2.4% and 3.9% after inflation, but that, too, was the biggest jump in 40 years. Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since 1969, and a record 10 million people have applied to start small businesses.

This public investment in the economy has attracted billions in private-sector investment—chipmakers have planned almost $200 billion of investments in 17 states—while it has also pressured certain companies to act in the public interest: the three major insulin producers in the U.S., making up 90% of the market, have all capped prices at $35 a month.  

As the economy begins to smooth out, Biden and members of his administration are touting the benefits of investing in the economy “from the bottom up and the middle out.” They have emphasized that they are working to support unions and the rights of consumers, taking on “junk fees,” noncompete agreements, and nondisparagement clauses. After the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, the administration has suggested that deregulation of banking institutions went too far, and Biden has continued to push increased support for child care and health care.

A recent Associated Press–NORC poll shows that while 60% of Americans say the federal government spends too much money, they actually want increased investment in specific programs: 65% want more on education (12% want less); 63% want more on health care (16% want less); 62% want more on Social Security (7% want less); 58% want more spending on Medicare (10% want less); 53% want more on border security (23% want less); and 35% want more spending on the military (29% want less).

This puts the political parties in an odd spot. A week ago, Biden and members of the administration began barnstorming the country to highlight how their policy of “Investing in America” has been building the economy: “unleashing a manufacturing boom, helping rebuild our infrastructure and bring back supply chains, lowering costs for hardworking families, and creating jobs that don’t require a four-year degree across the country,” as the White House puts it.

Meanwhile,  the Republicans are doubling down on the idea that such investments are a waste of money, and are forcing a fight over the debt ceiling to try to slash the very programs that the administration is celebrating. Ignoring that the 2017 Trump tax cuts and spending under Trump added about 25% to the debt, they are focusing on Biden’s policies and demanding  that the government balance the budget in 10 years without raising taxes and without cutting defense, veterans benefits, Social Security, or Medicare, which would require slashing everything else by an impossible 85%, at least (some estimates say even 100% cuts wouldn’t do it).

As David Firestone put it today in the New York Times: “Cutting spending…might sound attractive to many voters until you explain what you’re actually cutting and what effect it would have.” Republicans cut taxes and then complain about deficits “but don’t want to discuss how many veterans won’t get care or whose damaged homes won’t get rebuilt or which dangerous products won’t get recalled.” Firestone noted that this disconnect is why the House Republicans cannot come up with a budget. “The details of austerity are unpopular,” Firestone notes, “and it’s easier to just issue fiery news releases.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

After testing times, Brazil is back

Synergy between public health system principles and foreign policy must be resumed

The return of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva as president represents an opportunity for Brazil to rebuild its public health system (SUS) and resume its leadership in global health, relaunching cooperation with the global south. However, President Lula will face even greater challenges than those in his previous presidency (2002-10), considering that Brazilian public health was recently described by experts as “scorched earth.”1

Since 2016, the national health services have experienced relentless cuts in public funding. This has led to substantial decreases in the number of services provided by SUS, an increase in indicators of child malnutrition and maternal deaths, and the downgrading or withdrawal of successful programmes such as people’s pharmacies, community health agents, and the response to HIV/AIDS.2

One of the most disturbing examples of the decay is the Brazilian national immunisation programme.3 After nearly half a century of progress, vaccination coverage of the population, including all World Health Organization recommended vaccines, dropped from 73% in 2019 to 67% in 2020 and 59% in 2021, far from the desirable level of 95%.4 The childhood vaccination rate fell from 93.1% in 2019 to 71.5% in 2021, placing Brazil among the countries with the lowest coverage in the world.5

Another important challenge was the devasting effect of covid-19 in Brazil with nearly 700 000 deaths and more than 36 million reported cases since early 2020.6 The botched federal response included official recommendations of ineffective treatments such as chloroquine and ivermectin, delay in purchasing vaccines, the boycott of public health measures adopted by local governments, and the wide dissemination of fake news by public agencies.7 The previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, even disseminated false associations between covid-19 vaccines and HIV, and between wearing masks and pneumonia.8 In his inauguration speech on 1 January 2023, Lula stated that “the responsibilities for this genocide must be investigated and must not go unpunished” following due process and a broad right of defence. 9

Despite the ministry of health’s historical importance as head of the SUS, controlling resources for more than 5000 municipalities, technical staff were replaced by military personnel, and health policies were guided by ideological and religious principles rather than scientific evidence during the covid pandemic.

Continue reading.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

By Bill Shaw

The latest wastewater surveillance data show that the COVID-19 pandemic has entered its tenth wave in the United States. Last week’s spike in wastewater was the highest percentage increase in transmission in almost three years, though these figures could be revised downwards and the full severity of the wave will only become clear in the coming weeks. One reason for the rapid jump appears to be a later start for the “winter surge” than is typical, and thus the virus could be quickly rising to a level that has now become typical for this time of year.

The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) model estimates that 1.6 percent of Americans are presently infected and capable of transmitting the virus to others. That is 1 in 64 people and represents nearly 750,000 new COVID-19 cases per day. That means that on a flight of 100 people, there is an 80 percent chance that at least one person is infectious; on a flight of 300 people that rises to a 99 percent chance.

This level of transmission exceeds the levels for 73 percent of the duration of the pandemic to date. Given the known incidence of Long COVID, the current levels of transmission are generating an estimated 200,000 new cases of Long COVID per week.

Not a word about this latest COVID-19 wave has been uttered by the Biden administration or any major outlet in the corporate media. The entire political establishment is in agreement on the need to enforce the pro-corporate policy of “forever COVID,” in which the working class and broad layers of society as a whole are condemned to unending waves of mass infection, death and debilitation with Long COVID.

The PMC model projects that the current winter surge could peak between New Year’s Day and January 7. Because COVID-19 transmission followed a completely different pattern in 2024 than any other year of the pandemic, it is more difficult to forecast transmission during the current surge. This year’s summer surge was unusually late and sustained, while also declining abnormally rapidly, and the lull between the summer and winter surges was atypically long.

The latest data on test positivity and emergency department visits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show both these indicators on the increase. Hospitalizations and deaths are typically lagging indicators, and although they have not yet increased, they are likely to rise as well in the coming week or two.

The new XEC variant continues to increase as a percentage of COVID-19 infections, now estimated at 44 percent, compared to 33 percent a week ago. It is now the most common variant, having surpassed the KP3.1.1 variant per the most recent data.

Given the total absence of governmental support for the renovation of infrastructure to ensure that indoor air is purified in public spaces, the only defenses against COVID-19 continue to be vaccines and non-pharmaceutical measures, such as social distancing and masking. Vaccination additionally protects against the most adverse outcomes of COVID-19, including death and hospitalization, while providing moderate protection against Long COVID.

Unfortunately, misinformation coupled with the potential expense of paying for a costly vaccine have resulted in extremely low vaccination rates for COVID-19. Per the latest CDC data, only 21.0 percent of American adults reported that they have received the latest vaccine released at the beginning of the Fall. Coverage of children is even worse at 10.6 percent, or approximately half the rate of adults.

Dr. Alexander Sloboda, medical director of immunizations for the Chicago Department of Public Health, said:

There’s still a lot of misinformation, disinformation, particularly around the COVID vaccine, so just trying to overcome the misinformation, disinformation that’s out there with correct information is what we’re trying to do. Obviously, it’s a kind of an uphill battle.

In another development this week related to the science of COVID-19 treatment, a study from 2020 that purported to show that hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment was finally retracted. According to the journal’s retraction notice, the paper was pulled because of ethical transgressions and major flaws in methodology.

Even though numerous scientists immediately spotted and exposed the flaws of the study, it took four years of campaigning before the journal editors finally relented and retracted the paper this month. In fact, a lead author on the study, Didier Raoult, at one point threatened legal action against the whistleblowers who challenged the study. One of the journal editors was a co-author of the study, likely a factor in the long time period between the paper being discredited and it being retracted.

The scientific discourse over the study included subsequent identification of additional serious methodological flaws in 2023. Recently, three of the study’s authors wrote a letter to the journal requesting a retraction, acknowledging that no confidence could be placed in the “results” and stating explicitly that they no longer wished to be associated with the paper.

Notably, Raoult has so far had 28 papers retracted, including this one. Raoult leads the French Hospital Institute of Marseille Mediterranean Infection (IHU). Overall, 32 papers authored by IHU members, including Raoult, have been retracted. Investigations are underway on at least 100 more papers by this group, mostly due to concerns that the studies violated ethical standards.

The discredited hydroxychloroquine study spawned massive misinformation promoting the drug as a treatment for COVID-19. The most infamous episodes involved then-President Donald Trump, who in a period of two months in 2020 made 11 tweets about unproven therapies for COVID-19 and mentioned them 65 times in White House briefings. Trump repeatedly referenced this now-retracted study, even after it had been discredited. During that time, purchases of hydroxychloroquine on Amazon surged by 200 percent.

With Trump returning to the presidency and having nominated a slate of anti-science quacks to every public health-related leadership position in the federal government—overseen by the notorious purveyor of anti-vaccine disinformation Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—the working class must heighten its vigilance against medical misinformation and follow the advice of principled scientists. Any one of Trump’s nominees is damaging, but collectively it will be catastrophic when their pseudo-science becomes official policy.

Official policy under Biden already is criminally permitting the pandemic to continue to cause death and disability virtually unchecked. The constant emergence of new variants, including at least three major new variants this year alone, is a product of the dismantling of public health measures to contain the virus. Protecting the public’s health requires more than just vigilance. The working class must organize on its own political program to replace capitalism with socialism, a social system that prioritizes human health over private profit.

[ajunicetryagain]

If you’re uninsured in the US, you should as well – Biden is set to end the emergency declaration for Covid and that means a LOT of things are about to change.

Free vaccines and boosters? Gone.

Free testing? Gone.

Depending on your coverage (or lack thereof), these things might be free or discounted or expensive or only with a doctor’s request. But millions of people are going to be suddenly without coverage too.

Medicaid will be dis-enrolling people who are no longer eligible. Everyone who went on Medicaid during the pandemic, stayed on during the pandemic – no reporting the first W-2 that put you over the monthly limit, no re-enrolling every single year.

Dis-enrollment will hit especially hard in states like mine where Republicans’ refusal to take the Medicaid expansion means there’s a sizeable gap between who qualifies for Medicaid (<$12k) and who qualifies for subsidies (>$21k).

Hospitals will also be losing a lot of additional funding so expect that to be real fun.

We have more time – not til May 11 – so prepare as much as you can. It’s gonna be a rough ride.

hey UK followers, go get your covid boosters ASAP before these bastards take away yet another covid protection. jfc

[kamini-vidrawan-ras-tablet]

Vaccine Hesitancy and Misinformation

Vaccine Hesitancy and Misinformation remains a significant and viral topic in the health sector, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's an overview of the issue and its impact:

Overview of Vaccine Hesitancy and Misinformation

Vaccine hesitancy refers to the delay or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines. This hesitancy has been fueled by a combination of factors, including fear of side effects, distrust in government or pharmaceutical companies, and the spread of misinformation, particularly through social media.

Misinformation about vaccines has been a major driver of vaccine hesitancy. False claims about vaccines causing autism, infertility, or other severe side effects have spread widely. These claims, often amplified by social media platforms, are sometimes shared by influential public figures or groups who challenge the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

Key Drivers of Vaccine Hesitancy and Misinformation

Social Media and Misinformation: Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have been hotbeds for the rapid spread of vaccine misinformation. Anti-vaccine influencers and even fake news websites often spread misleading or false information, making it difficult for people to separate fact from fiction.

Erosion of Trust: Distrust in public health authorities, governments, or pharmaceutical companies contributes to vaccine hesitancy. This is especially prominent in communities that feel marginalized or neglected by the system, where there may be a historic lack of trust in medical institutions.

Echo Chambers: Online communities that support anti-vaccine views often reinforce misinformation, creating echo chambers where individuals only hear information that confirms their beliefs. This can be especially harmful because it isolates individuals from evidence-based information.

Misinformation about Side Effects: False claims about the dangers of vaccines, particularly the COVID-19 vaccines, have been a persistent issue. For instance, unsubstantiated claims about vaccines causing severe allergic reactions, blood clots, or fertility issues have circulated widely.

Impact of Vaccine Hesitancy

Public Health Risks: Vaccine hesitancy contributes to outbreaks of preventable diseases like measles, polio, and flu, as fewer people are vaccinated, lowering herd immunity. This increases the risk of these diseases spreading, particularly among vulnerable populations like infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.

Delayed Vaccination Efforts: During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine hesitancy delayed global efforts to reach herd immunity. Some countries or regions struggled to achieve sufficient vaccination coverage due to misinformation and public reluctance.

Combating Vaccine Misinformation

Efforts to combat vaccine misinformation include:

Fact-Checking and Media Literacy: Encouraging individuals to check credible sources and rely on peer-reviewed research, rather than rumors or unverified posts.

Public Education Campaigns: Governments and health organizations are launching campaigns to educate the public about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, often featuring trusted voices like doctors, scientists, and community leaders.

Social Media Platforms Taking Action: Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have introduced measures to limit the spread of false information, including flagging vaccine misinformation, removing misleading content, and directing users to authoritative health sources.

Community Engagement: Involving community leaders and influencers who are trusted by hesitant groups to share accurate information and dispel myths.

Recent Developments in Vaccine Hesitancy

COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation: With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, misinformation became even more widespread. Conspiracy theories about the vaccines' ingredients, the speed of their development, and their potential to alter DNA have circulated heavily.

Omicron and New Boosters: New variants like Omicron have caused concerns about vaccine efficacy, especially regarding how well existing vaccines protect against newer strains. The debate around booster shots and their necessity has also been a focus of misinformation.

Do You Know KVR?

Overall, combating vaccine hesitancy requires a multifaceted approach that involves public health education, better communication, and collaboration with tech companies to curb the spread of misinformation.

[nithiyanantha]

Role of IAS Officers in India’s Public Health Sector

The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) plays a pivotal role in shaping and implementing policies that impact public health across the nation. IAS officers, as part of their administrative responsibilities, ensure that healthcare services are accessible, affordable, and of high quality. From planning health initiatives to managing crises like pandemics, these officers serve as the backbone of India’s public health infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities of IAS Officers in Public Health

Policy Formulation and Implementation: IAS officers contribute to designing public health policies that address critical issues such as maternal health, malnutrition, sanitation, and epidemic control. They ensure these policies are implemented effectively at the grassroots level.

Crisis Management: During public health emergencies such as pandemics, IAS officers coordinate with multiple departments to ensure the availability of resources like hospital beds, medical supplies, and vaccination drives. Their leadership in such scenarios helps mitigate the impact of crises.

Monitoring and Supervision: IAS officers regularly inspect public health facilities to ensure compliance with quality standards. They monitor the implementation of schemes like Ayushman Bharat and oversee funds allocated for healthcare.

Strengthening Infrastructure: Building new hospitals, improving primary health centers, and ensuring rural healthcare accessibility are critical tasks that IAS officers manage. They bridge the gap between policy goals and on-ground execution.

Community Engagement: Engaging communities is essential for creating awareness about health initiatives. IAS officers lead campaigns to educate citizens about hygiene, vaccination, and disease prevention.

Examples of Public Health Initiatives Managed by IAS Officers

IAS officers play a crucial role in the success of schemes like the National Health Mission (NHM), which aims to provide universal access to healthcare. They also spearhead programs targeting immunization, disease control, and nutrition enhancement.

Moreover, the efforts of IAS officers in states have significantly improved health indicators like infant mortality rates and vaccination coverage. This demonstrates their influence in shaping a healthier future for India.

Why Public Health Needs Strong Administrative Support

Public health is a dynamic sector requiring strategic planning, efficient resource allocation, and constant monitoring. IAS officers, with their ability to work across various domains, ensure that health policies align with the nation’s broader developmental goals.

Their efforts are complemented by collaborations with experts, healthcare professionals, and community leaders to deliver impactful results. This holistic approach ensures that public health systems in India remain robust and resilient.

Conclusion

IAS officers are instrumental in driving India’s public health sector forward. Their ability to blend policy-making with efficient execution ensures that even the remotest corners of the country have access to essential healthcare services.

For aspirants preparing for competitive exams like the IAS, understanding the role of public health administration can be insightful and motivating. Additionally, those targeting other competitive exams, such as banking exams, often find that institutions like a bank exam coaching center in Coimbatore provide structured preparation to achieve their goals.

By addressing challenges in public health and contributing to the nation’s progress, IAS officers exemplify the transformative power of dedicated public service. If you are inspired to join these ranks or pursue other civil services, the right guidance and preparation, much like that offered by a bank exam coaching center in Coimbatore, can set you on the path to success.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dylan Scott at Vox:

Former President Donald Trump left the White House amid a public health emergency that his own messaging helped exacerbate. Now, as he campaigns to retake the presidency, he is once again politicizing long-held best practices for stopping infectious diseases. With Covid-19 again on the upswing and amid an ongoing measles outbreak, the former president is taking aim at school vaccine requirements from the campaign stump, promising to defund the districts that mandate students receive certain vaccines. The real danger in Trump’s words is not any actual loss of education funding — that threat is toothless, experts say — but the continued normalizing of anti-vaccine attitudes. People are already losing trust in vaccines: Only 40 percent of Americans believe it is extremely important for parents to get their children vaccinated, down from 64 percent in 2001. It is perhaps the most worrying trend in public health right now. We have the tools to stop many infectious diseases — if we take advantage of them. Trump’s words are making it less likely that people will.

Could Trump really defund schools over vaccines?

Trump had a famously complicated relationship with Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic. While he officially endorsed them, and his administration played a critical role in their development, he simultaneously indulged vaccine hesitancy on the right, where a tangle of conspiracy theories cast the shots as a part of a sinister public health agenda. Prior to being elected, he entertained theories (advanced by his frenemy in the 2024 presidential race, RFK Jr.) about a link between vaccines and autism. Recently leaked footage suggests he still privately shares those views. Now, Trump is promising to make it a priority to take action against schools with vaccine or mask mandates and those that “teach” critical race theory.

“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, and I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate,” he told the Christian Faith and Freedom Coalition, a conservative Christian group, in July.

[...] And Trump can’t just do whatever he wants with federal education dollars, either. The bulk of federal funding is authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the federal law that has set most of federal education policy since the 1960s (with several updates over the decades). That spending has fairly specific strings attached, leaving the federal government with a very limited say over how state and local jurisdictions spend their much larger share of school funding. [...] But Carey worries Trump could still influence local school decisions, especially if he’s elected and even if he can’t actually block funding, because he could still use his bully pulpit to make school administrators fear litigation or more subtle retaliations if they defy the federal government’s wishes.

Trump can shape vaccine attitudes — positively and negatively

That kind of softer influence is where the real risk lies. Trump’s words reach a lot of people. So much so that there is a small library’s worth of research on how Trump affected the Covid-19 information ecosystem and the public’s attitudes toward vaccines. One meta-review of 1 million news articles about the pandemic found that nearly 40 percent of them featured Trump and one of the false claims attributed to him. Coverage of specific subjects, such as miracle cures or the deep state, paralleled whatever fixation Trump had at a given time or the enemies he was railing against. Several studies linked messages that featured Trump’s endorsement of Covid-19 vaccines with an increase in actual vaccinations — another measure of his influence. On the flip side, being a Trump voter was associated with a lower likelihood of getting vaccinated, which reflects festering conspiracy theories and anti-public health sentiments in Trump’s base. One Pew survey found that people who trusted Trump the most for pandemic information were the least likely to be vaccinated. This may help to explain why the Trump-voting parts of the US saw more deaths adjusted for population during the pandemic. When Trump starts to badmouth not just Covid-19 vaccines, but also routine childhood vaccinations that have been around for decades and proven their efficacy in preventing deadly diseases, he is adding fuel to a dangerous fire.

Donald Trump’s promise to block funding for schools that require vaccines with his irresponsible “I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate” pitch is part of the right-wing war on public health measures and vaccines.