J. Offir, PhD
@joffirphd.bsky.social
Ph.D. in social psychology. Former researcher in pandemic behavioral risk reduction (non-pharma intervention). Only here to keep up. @[email protected]
Pinned
J. Offir, PhD
@joffirphd.bsky.social
· Aug 23
In The Bad Place, I have a pinned thread of my covid essays & threads, w/ short descriptions of ea. Here's one for This Place, though w/o descriptions, b/c I'm tired. As is true there, I've put them in reverse chrono order, but anything new will post at the end. I flagged ones people liked best:
Updated 📌 list of my essays on the psychology of public health (inc. topics like covid, HIV & reproductive health). As of 8/22/25, there are *31* long-form pieces in this 🧵.
The list starts in reverse chrono. order, but in Oct. 2024 starts rolling forward, so oldest posts are in the middle. Doh.
The list starts in reverse chrono. order, but in Oct. 2024 starts rolling forward, so oldest posts are in the middle. Doh.
ICYMI: Measles is again endemic in the UK. Congratulations, British friends.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
UK loses measles elimination status
Decision made after outbreaks in 2024, when there were nearly 3,000 cases in England and Wales.
www.bbc.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:21 PM
ICYMI: Measles is again endemic in the UK. Congratulations, British friends.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
February 11, 2026 at 3:50 AM
New York makes two! C'mon, blue states - time to join up.
The partnership will allow NY to "provide technical assistance and capacity-building support while gaining earlier access to global outbreak intelligence" & improving preparedness for emerging PH threats.
cbs6albany.com/news/local/g...
The partnership will allow NY to "provide technical assistance and capacity-building support while gaining earlier access to global outbreak intelligence" & improving preparedness for emerging PH threats.
cbs6albany.com/news/local/g...
February 11, 2026 at 3:25 AM
New York makes two! C'mon, blue states - time to join up.
The partnership will allow NY to "provide technical assistance and capacity-building support while gaining earlier access to global outbreak intelligence" & improving preparedness for emerging PH threats.
cbs6albany.com/news/local/g...
The partnership will allow NY to "provide technical assistance and capacity-building support while gaining earlier access to global outbreak intelligence" & improving preparedness for emerging PH threats.
cbs6albany.com/news/local/g...
Social drinking is linked to addiction, violence, & accidents - and experts should have said so a month ago when Oz first mouthed off about alcohol's utility as a "social lunricant." (I said something, below, but I'm not an expert on alcohol use.)
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...
February 11, 2026 at 2:40 AM
Social drinking is linked to addiction, violence, & accidents - and experts should have said so a month ago when Oz first mouthed off about alcohol's utility as a "social lunricant." (I said something, below, but I'm not an expert on alcohol use.)
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...
"A small group of conservative activists has worked for 16 years to stop all government efforts to fight climate change. Their efforts seem poised to pay off."
I'd wonder how they sleep at night, but the truth is that monsters like this sleep far better than I do.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
I'd wonder how they sleep at night, but the truth is that monsters like this sleep far better than I do.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation
www.nytimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:29 AM
"A small group of conservative activists has worked for 16 years to stop all government efforts to fight climate change. Their efforts seem poised to pay off."
I'd wonder how they sleep at night, but the truth is that monsters like this sleep far better than I do.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
I'd wonder how they sleep at night, but the truth is that monsters like this sleep far better than I do.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...
This is a problem; it's not policy that wins elections, but (much of the time) money.
Find some candidates you like & donate. Or if you aren't sure where your contributions could help most, donate to the seats we can most easily flip & need most to defend.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Find some candidates you like & donate. Or if you aren't sure where your contributions could help most, donate to the seats we can most easily flip & need most to defend.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Republican Cash Edge Threatens to Swamp Democrats in the Midterms
www.nytimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:24 AM
This is a problem; it's not policy that wins elections, but (much of the time) money.
Find some candidates you like & donate. Or if you aren't sure where your contributions could help most, donate to the seats we can most easily flip & need most to defend.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Find some candidates you like & donate. Or if you aren't sure where your contributions could help most, donate to the seats we can most easily flip & need most to defend.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Reposted by J. Offir, PhD
Journalists have often asked me how vaccine policy in the US could impact Canadians. I've repeated that one way, among many, is by fundamentally altering the value proposition for vaccine research and development. And so it begins.
More reporting: At the WEF in Davos, Moderna’s CEO said Moderna will "stop investing in late-stage vaccine trials that are a crucial part of the approval process," b/c “You cannot make a return on investment if you don’t have access to the U.S. market."
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
February 11, 2026 at 2:09 AM
Journalists have often asked me how vaccine policy in the US could impact Canadians. I've repeated that one way, among many, is by fundamentally altering the value proposition for vaccine research and development. And so it begins.
More reporting: At the WEF in Davos, Moderna’s CEO said Moderna will "stop investing in late-stage vaccine trials that are a crucial part of the approval process," b/c “You cannot make a return on investment if you don’t have access to the U.S. market."
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
February 11, 2026 at 1:53 AM
More reporting: At the WEF in Davos, Moderna’s CEO said Moderna will "stop investing in late-stage vaccine trials that are a crucial part of the approval process," b/c “You cannot make a return on investment if you don’t have access to the U.S. market."
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
Thank goodness - no indictments of Sens. Mark Kelly & Elissa Slotkin, & Reps. Crow, Goodlander, Houlahan & Deluzio, who used their 1A rights to speak facts.
I just wish the news would start including the cost to taxpayers for all of this nonsense at the DoJ.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
I just wish the news would start including the cost to taxpayers for all of this nonsense at the DoJ.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Grand Jury Rebuffs Justice Dept. Attempt to Indict 6 Democrats in Congress
www.nytimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:46 AM
Thank goodness - no indictments of Sens. Mark Kelly & Elissa Slotkin, & Reps. Crow, Goodlander, Houlahan & Deluzio, who used their 1A rights to speak facts.
I just wish the news would start including the cost to taxpayers for all of this nonsense at the DoJ.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
I just wish the news would start including the cost to taxpayers for all of this nonsense at the DoJ.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Really bad - not just b/c the FDA refused even to review the application after previously indicating they would, but b/c this biotech is very important: the article doesn't mention it, but an mRNA vax could be produced much faster than a std. flu vax, & so, offer a superior fit w/ circulating virus.
The FDA has refused to accept an application from Moderna to review its first mRNA seasonal flu vaccine, the company said, in another setback for the technology that’s been a target of some Trump administration health officials. https://cnn.it/4kt8iyn
February 10, 2026 at 11:58 PM
Really bad - not just b/c the FDA refused even to review the application after previously indicating they would, but b/c this biotech is very important: the article doesn't mention it, but an mRNA vax could be produced much faster than a std. flu vax, & so, offer a superior fit w/ circulating virus.
ICYMI: The terms you use to think about your health care providers matter; your providers' views about the terms you use matter, too.
Mini-essay 🧵: Words matter. But I don't agree with these authors' conclusions.
They note that the term "provider" deemphasizes "professional identity...because differences in training and expertise among clinicians are not recognized; others have found it to be ambiguous and disrespectful."
1/10
They note that the term "provider" deemphasizes "professional identity...because differences in training and expertise among clinicians are not recognized; others have found it to be ambiguous and disrespectful."
1/10
"The term [provider] should not be used to describe physicians, nor should physicians use it to describe themselves, their team members, or their trainees."
www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...
www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...
February 10, 2026 at 11:46 PM
ICYMI: The terms you use to think about your health care providers matter; your providers' views about the terms you use matter, too.
Mini-essay 🧵: Words matter. But I don't agree with these authors' conclusions.
They note that the term "provider" deemphasizes "professional identity...because differences in training and expertise among clinicians are not recognized; others have found it to be ambiguous and disrespectful."
1/10
They note that the term "provider" deemphasizes "professional identity...because differences in training and expertise among clinicians are not recognized; others have found it to be ambiguous and disrespectful."
1/10
"The term [provider] should not be used to describe physicians, nor should physicians use it to describe themselves, their team members, or their trainees."
www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...
www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...
Physicians Are Not Providers: The Ethical Significance of Names in Health Care: A Policy Paper From the American College of Physicians | Annals of Internal Medicine
More than 25 years ago, Pellegrino and Relman noted the increasing commercialization of the learned professions, anticipating what many physicians are increasingly experiencing today: an impairment of...
www.acpjournals.org
February 10, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Mini-essay 🧵: Words matter. But I don't agree with these authors' conclusions.
They note that the term "provider" deemphasizes "professional identity...because differences in training and expertise among clinicians are not recognized; others have found it to be ambiguous and disrespectful."
1/10
They note that the term "provider" deemphasizes "professional identity...because differences in training and expertise among clinicians are not recognized; others have found it to be ambiguous and disrespectful."
1/10
More reporting on CDC public health funding cuts to blue states - this time, programs on the chopping block are in CA, CO, IL & MN. Cuts include grants to state & local public health depts & to NGOs.
Former CDC CMO Deb Houry "noted that Congress had already...
🧵1/3
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/h...
Former CDC CMO Deb Houry "noted that Congress had already...
🧵1/3
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/h...
Trump Administration to Cut $600 Million in Health Funding From Four States
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:20 PM
More reporting on CDC public health funding cuts to blue states - this time, programs on the chopping block are in CA, CO, IL & MN. Cuts include grants to state & local public health depts & to NGOs.
Former CDC CMO Deb Houry "noted that Congress had already...
🧵1/3
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/h...
Former CDC CMO Deb Houry "noted that Congress had already...
🧵1/3
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/h...
Reposted by J. Offir, PhD
They definitely could not be.
Even when we had a functional public health infrastructure, the primary reason people got their kids vaxxed was b/c of school mandates. Even among pro-vax folks, the mandate provides a necessary push.
Ex: I don't know what Canada's car emissions testing sys. is, but
Even when we had a functional public health infrastructure, the primary reason people got their kids vaxxed was b/c of school mandates. Even among pro-vax folks, the mandate provides a necessary push.
Ex: I don't know what Canada's car emissions testing sys. is, but
February 10, 2026 at 8:01 PM
They definitely could not be.
Even when we had a functional public health infrastructure, the primary reason people got their kids vaxxed was b/c of school mandates. Even among pro-vax folks, the mandate provides a necessary push.
Ex: I don't know what Canada's car emissions testing sys. is, but
Even when we had a functional public health infrastructure, the primary reason people got their kids vaxxed was b/c of school mandates. Even among pro-vax folks, the mandate provides a necessary push.
Ex: I don't know what Canada's car emissions testing sys. is, but
FL needs to get a prize for "Most Floridian."
Their DPH site isn't keeping measles case counts current, & it doesn't mention vaccination as a "way to prevent" measles; only as "post-exposure protection." In FL, they'd rather open the barn & then go chase the horse.
www.wusf.org/health-news-...
Their DPH site isn't keeping measles case counts current, & it doesn't mention vaccination as a "way to prevent" measles; only as "post-exposure protection." In FL, they'd rather open the barn & then go chase the horse.
www.wusf.org/health-news-...
Measles is spreading across Florida. The state's updates lag more than a week
Measles is highly contagious, and immunization rates in some counties are below the 95% recommended for herd immunity.
www.wusf.org
February 10, 2026 at 8:59 AM
FL needs to get a prize for "Most Floridian."
Their DPH site isn't keeping measles case counts current, & it doesn't mention vaccination as a "way to prevent" measles; only as "post-exposure protection." In FL, they'd rather open the barn & then go chase the horse.
www.wusf.org/health-news-...
Their DPH site isn't keeping measles case counts current, & it doesn't mention vaccination as a "way to prevent" measles; only as "post-exposure protection." In FL, they'd rather open the barn & then go chase the horse.
www.wusf.org/health-news-...
CMS Directilor Oz says there's "a simple solution to the raging measles outbreak in South Carolina." But he won't say "mandate," so here we are.
Over at CIDRAP, Michael Osterholm "likened Dr. Oz’s comments to taking a garden hose to a forest fire." Yupparoo.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Over at CIDRAP, Michael Osterholm "likened Dr. Oz’s comments to taking a garden hose to a forest fire." Yupparoo.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Oz Offers Forceful Call for Vaccination as Measles Becomes More Dire
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:37 AM
CMS Directilor Oz says there's "a simple solution to the raging measles outbreak in South Carolina." But he won't say "mandate," so here we are.
Over at CIDRAP, Michael Osterholm "likened Dr. Oz’s comments to taking a garden hose to a forest fire." Yupparoo.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
Over at CIDRAP, Michael Osterholm "likened Dr. Oz’s comments to taking a garden hose to a forest fire." Yupparoo.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/w...
The two-post combo below is good messaging about why Mandates Matter, as I said once on your podcast, @coopspeak.bsky.social @mjnabuurs.bsky.social. Gotta have 'em.
5 months ago
February 10, 2026 at 5:45 AM
The two-post combo below is good messaging about why Mandates Matter, as I said once on your podcast, @coopspeak.bsky.social @mjnabuurs.bsky.social. Gotta have 'em.
Pretty funny, given that Cassidy's the guy responsible for the elevation of their false god in the first place.
Oh, the irony. You might as well have saved us from all this, Bill.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
Oh, the irony. You might as well have saved us from all
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
MAHA Group Pledges $1 Million to Help Defeat Senator Cassidy in Louisiana Primary
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:06 AM
Pretty funny, given that Cassidy's the guy responsible for the elevation of their false god in the first place.
Oh, the irony. You might as well have saved us from all this, Bill.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
Oh, the irony. You might as well have saved us from all
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
Below is a mini-essay (but shorter) about what it was like to grow up in an era of nuclear proliferation. & here's an amazing, absurd, very inappropriate gov. film short shown to elem. kids - made before my time, but we still "assumed the position" in my day. I looked...
www.loc.gov/item/2022604...
www.loc.gov/item/2022604...
February 10, 2026 at 4:50 AM
Below is a mini-essay (but shorter) about what it was like to grow up in an era of nuclear proliferation. & here's an amazing, absurd, very inappropriate gov. film short shown to elem. kids - made before my time, but we still "assumed the position" in my day. I looked...
www.loc.gov/item/2022604...
www.loc.gov/item/2022604...
🧵When I little, my school still ran "duck and cover" drills where they'd set off a "war siren" & we'd all dive under our tiny desks and put our hands over our bent heads, practicing how to "survive" a nuclear attack. Pretty silly, huh?
Then, when I was in...
1/10
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
Then, when I was in...
1/10
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
Newly Unbound, Trump Weighs More Nuclear Arms and Underground Tests
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:23 AM
🧵When I little, my school still ran "duck and cover" drills where they'd set off a "war siren" & we'd all dive under our tiny desks and put our hands over our bent heads, practicing how to "survive" a nuclear attack. Pretty silly, huh?
Then, when I was in...
1/10
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
Then, when I was in...
1/10
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
Loss of our measles elimination status hasn't been officially announced yet, but for all intents & purposes, it's endemic again.
"DC Health was notified of multiple confirmed cases of measles whose carriers visited multiple locations in the District while contagious."
www.npr.org/2026/02/08/n...
"DC Health was notified of multiple confirmed cases of measles whose carriers visited multiple locations in the District while contagious."
www.npr.org/2026/02/08/n...
March for Life attendees may have been exposed to measles, DC Health warns
D.C. health officials are contacting people possibly exposed to measles at the March for Life in January, as confirmed cases rise nationwide.
www.npr.org
February 9, 2026 at 9:40 AM
Loss of our measles elimination status hasn't been officially announced yet, but for all intents & purposes, it's endemic again.
"DC Health was notified of multiple confirmed cases of measles whose carriers visited multiple locations in the District while contagious."
www.npr.org/2026/02/08/n...
"DC Health was notified of multiple confirmed cases of measles whose carriers visited multiple locations in the District while contagious."
www.npr.org/2026/02/08/n...
Sen. Adam Schiff says that "Trump intends to take action to overturn the result of the 2026 midterm elections should Republicans lose seats in Congress."
Not surprising, I guess, but definitely a problem to deal with *before* November.
abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics...
Not surprising, I guess, but definitely a problem to deal with *before* November.
abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics...
Democratic Sen. Schiff says Trump intends to 'subvert' 2026 midterm elections
abcnews.go.com
February 9, 2026 at 4:59 AM
Sen. Adam Schiff says that "Trump intends to take action to overturn the result of the 2026 midterm elections should Republicans lose seats in Congress."
Not surprising, I guess, but definitely a problem to deal with *before* November.
abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics...
Not surprising, I guess, but definitely a problem to deal with *before* November.
abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics...
Our elections have brutal consequences when we vote wrong, and we have a civic & moral duty to know what these are. On the profound havoc ending USAID has wrecked, & what it says about us:
🔹️ Last year, humanitarian aid "reached 25 million fewer people than in...
🧵
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/o...
🔹️ Last year, humanitarian aid "reached 25 million fewer people than in...
🧵
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/o...
Opinion | The Aftermath of Feeding America’s Credibility Into the Woodchipper
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Our elections have brutal consequences when we vote wrong, and we have a civic & moral duty to know what these are. On the profound havoc ending USAID has wrecked, & what it says about us:
🔹️ Last year, humanitarian aid "reached 25 million fewer people than in...
🧵
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/o...
🔹️ Last year, humanitarian aid "reached 25 million fewer people than in...
🧵
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/o...
This morning's weather report: -3°F. Yikes.
February 8, 2026 at 12:05 PM
This morning's weather report: -3°F. Yikes.
ICE is a public health threat.
The man had 8 skull fractures & 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages.
ICE said he "purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall."
A CT scan showed fractures to the front, back & both sides of his skull - inconsistent w/ that narrative.
www.npr.org/2026/02/07/g...
The man had 8 skull fractures & 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages.
ICE said he "purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall."
A CT scan showed fractures to the front, back & both sides of his skull - inconsistent w/ that narrative.
www.npr.org/2026/02/07/g...
Immigrant whose skull was broken in 8 places during ICE arrest says beating was unprovoked
Alberto Castañeda Mondragón was hospitalized with eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages. Officers claimed he ran into a wall, but medical staff doubted that account.
www.npr.org
February 8, 2026 at 5:07 AM
ICE is a public health threat.
The man had 8 skull fractures & 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages.
ICE said he "purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall."
A CT scan showed fractures to the front, back & both sides of his skull - inconsistent w/ that narrative.
www.npr.org/2026/02/07/g...
The man had 8 skull fractures & 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages.
ICE said he "purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall."
A CT scan showed fractures to the front, back & both sides of his skull - inconsistent w/ that narrative.
www.npr.org/2026/02/07/g...