GoKawiil
Tech News
The FDA approved mFlusiva, a flu vaccine shown to perform well in older adults, but the CDC has issued no formal recommendation on its use. This departs from the agency's usual practice of guiding doctors and the public on newly approved vaccines shortly after FDA clearance.
The CDC has not finalized procurement decisions allowing states to order this season's COVID-19 vaccines through the Vaccines for Children program, which covers roughly 52 percent of US children who are uninsured, underinsured, Medicaid-eligible, or Indigenous. The delay also affects at least 11 states and one US territory that use VFC contracts to buy vaccines universally for all children regardless of insurance status. HHS, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed the procurement decisions remain unfinished but did not explain the reason for the delay.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a crowd at the Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group he co-founded, that his agency is examining aircraft emissions in relation to so-called 'chemtrails.' The crowd applauded as he described looking into potential health impacts from these emissions, echoing a long-debunked conspiracy theory that planes spray chemicals for population control or weather manipulation.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named eight new members to the 16-seat US Preventive Services Task Force, the federal panel that grades preventive care services like cancer screenings and statins on an A-to-D scale that determines insurance coverage. The appointments come after Kennedy spent over a year sidelining the panel, canceling meetings and firing two of its leaders earlier this year. Several new appointees share ideological alignment with Kennedy and the Trump administration, including critics of COVID-19 vaccines and gender-affirming care, plus a non-physician health economist.
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to give a keynote speech at a sold-out Washington, DC conference hosted by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group he formerly led. He'll share the stage with Andrew Wakefield, the discredited researcher who lost his medical license after publishing a fraudulent study falsely linking the MMR vaccine to autism.
Nature's latest books-in-brief column surveys four new nonfiction titles: Carlos Orsi's examination of astrology's scientific standing, Karen Torghele's biography of polio vaccine pioneer Albert Sabin, Trisha Muro's accessible guide to the physics behind space missions, and a work by J. W. Mason and Arjun Jayadev on monetary economics. Each book is briefly summarized with notes on its author's background and key arguments.
Jefferson County's coroner reported that a 40-year-old unvaccinated woman died from respiratory failure linked to suspected measles after known exposure to an infected person. She had underlying conditions, including COPD, and relied on supplemental oxygen, which likely worsened her vulnerability to the virus. Her death is the third measles-related fatality in the US this year, all occurring in Pennsylvania.
Despite chaos at the CDC's vaccine advisory panel and RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine actions as health secretary, updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines have been FDA-approved and are already shipping to pharmacies for the fall season. Major insurers have agreed to keep covering previously recommended vaccines at no cost through at least 2027, and state health officials expect a mostly normal rollout.
US measles cases have hit a 35-year high, with nearly 3,000 confirmed infections in 2026 and the first two deaths of the year reported in Pennsylvania as schools reopen. Advocacy groups say families of immunocompromised children, who can't be vaccinated or don't respond well to vaccines, are now weighing whether sending kids to school is safe as local vaccination rates fall below the 95 percent threshold needed to prevent outbreaks.
Researchers analyzed immune responses from over 150 non-human primates infected during a prolonged Shigella outbreak at a research facility, identifying specific bacterial molecules and antibody binding sites linked to protective immunity. The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, pinpoint precise structural targets that could inform vaccine design against multiple Shigella strains.
Senate Democrats including Ed Markey and Ron Wyden say newly released documents show Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave false statements to the Senate during his 2025 confirmation hearings about his 2019 trip to Samoa, where he was a leading anti-vaccine activist before a measles outbreak killed 83 people, mostly young children. Wyden called the discrepancy a crime and urged the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation, while Markey called it part of a broader pattern of dishonesty.
After Dolly Parton's death from cancer at age 80, right-wing commentators and online conspiracy theorists began circulating unsubstantiated claims that her Covid-19 vaccination caused a 'turbo cancer.' Parton's family confirmed she died following a brief illness related to cancer, with no connection to vaccination cited. The singer had publicly supported vaccine research, donating $1 million in 2020 and receiving her shot on camera in 2021.