Laurie Schowalter
@laurieschowalter.bsky.social
Public health, equity, justice / 🇺🇸🇿🇦
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
🧵My talk w/John Weiser, an HIV expert & doctor who resigned from CDC after refusing to censor data.
"I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them...knowing that I had erased their existence from CDC."
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
"I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them...knowing that I had erased their existence from CDC."
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
This HIV Expert Refused To Censor Data, Then Quit the CDC - KFF Health News
HIV physician John Weiser talks about why complying with President Donald Trump’s orders to erase transgender people is bad for science and society. And he notes that acquiescing didn’t spare the CDC ...
kffhealthnews.org
December 10, 2025 at 7:33 PM
🧵My talk w/John Weiser, an HIV expert & doctor who resigned from CDC after refusing to censor data.
"I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them...knowing that I had erased their existence from CDC."
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
"I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them...knowing that I had erased their existence from CDC."
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
tonight while recording a guest spot on a podcast i experienced an unacceptable level of disrespect from one of the hosts. so i decided to do what felt right for me and i left. i didn’t need to stick around to show i’m “tough” or “thick skinned.” i reminded myself that no one is owed my time.
December 9, 2025 at 1:52 AM
tonight while recording a guest spot on a podcast i experienced an unacceptable level of disrespect from one of the hosts. so i decided to do what felt right for me and i left. i didn’t need to stick around to show i’m “tough” or “thick skinned.” i reminded myself that no one is owed my time.
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
Brilliant, devastating reporting
This is a deeply-reported story that addresses the heart of American healthcare. It's worth your time. Please read and share. projects.propublica.org/albany-georg...
As Phoebe Memorial Grew, the Health of Albany, Georgia, Declined
The five-part series, “Sick in a Hospital Town,” pursues one question: Why are people in Albany so sick when its most powerful institution is a hospital?
projects.propublica.org
December 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Brilliant, devastating reporting
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Must-read review of the CDC ACIP meeting by @doritreiss.bsky.social 👇
"These people make decisions that impact people’s lives. Given that, the members’ lack of expertise, incompetence, and blatant anti-vaccine biases were dismaying"
www.statnews.com/2025/12/06/a... via @statnews.com
"These people make decisions that impact people’s lives. Given that, the members’ lack of expertise, incompetence, and blatant anti-vaccine biases were dismaying"
www.statnews.com/2025/12/06/a... via @statnews.com
RFK Jr.’s vaccine advisory panel is beset by incompetence, bias, and procedural chaos
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' (ACIP) meetings used to be a geek’s dream: hours of long, maybe dreary presentation of extensive data
www.statnews.com
December 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Must-read review of the CDC ACIP meeting by @doritreiss.bsky.social 👇
"These people make decisions that impact people’s lives. Given that, the members’ lack of expertise, incompetence, and blatant anti-vaccine biases were dismaying"
www.statnews.com/2025/12/06/a... via @statnews.com
"These people make decisions that impact people’s lives. Given that, the members’ lack of expertise, incompetence, and blatant anti-vaccine biases were dismaying"
www.statnews.com/2025/12/06/a... via @statnews.com
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Tracy Hoeg is a fraud. She advertises "orthobiologic" therapies on her website, ALL unapproved by FDA. Now she's in charge of CDER. She is a joke. Unqualified. Full-stop.
Tracy Hoeg: Voting to stop universally vaccinating newborns against hep B vaccine would "put us in line with peer countries."
Note: Which peer countries is she talking about? Taiwan began immunizing all babies on first day of life 6 years before the U.S., with huge success.
#ACIP
Note: Which peer countries is she talking about? Taiwan began immunizing all babies on first day of life 6 years before the U.S., with huge success.
#ACIP
December 5, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Tracy Hoeg is a fraud. She advertises "orthobiologic" therapies on her website, ALL unapproved by FDA. Now she's in charge of CDER. She is a joke. Unqualified. Full-stop.
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
The decision by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to downgrade its recommendations to protect infants from hepatitis B is a dangerous move that will harm children.
Click here to read AAP's full statement: bit.ly/3Y9ZQJT
Click here to read AAP's full statement: bit.ly/3Y9ZQJT
December 5, 2025 at 4:15 PM
The decision by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to downgrade its recommendations to protect infants from hepatitis B is a dangerous move that will harm children.
Click here to read AAP's full statement: bit.ly/3Y9ZQJT
Click here to read AAP's full statement: bit.ly/3Y9ZQJT
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
““Today is a defining moment for our country,” Michael Osterholm, a public health expert at the University of Minnesota, said. “We can no longer trust federal health authorities when it comes to vaccines.””
Breaking: After contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:16 PM
““Today is a defining moment for our country,” Michael Osterholm, a public health expert at the University of Minnesota, said. “We can no longer trust federal health authorities when it comes to vaccines.””
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
As ACIP does its best to destroy confidence in vaccines, we really need to use human rights laws to protect kids and ensure they have easy access to vaccines
www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/c...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/c...
Kids have a right to vaccinations. Let's bring in the lawyers
Children suffering from diseases that should have been consigned to history is a moral failure. Access to vaccines is a human right.
www.statnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
As ACIP does its best to destroy confidence in vaccines, we really need to use human rights laws to protect kids and ensure they have easy access to vaccines
www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/c...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/c...
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Kennedy's zombie ACIP panel just voted to restrict hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. Experts say it will harm children for no reason. www.ms.now/news/rfk-cdc...
ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner:
"'Do no harm' is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording. And I vote no."
ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner:
"'Do no harm' is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording. And I vote no."
RFK Jr.’s CDC panel: No more hepatitis B vaccine for some newborns
The CDC's vaccine advisory panel, stocked with anti-vaccine activists and loyalists to RFK Jr., voted Friday to stop recommending a birth dose of vaccine.
www.ms.now
December 5, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Kennedy's zombie ACIP panel just voted to restrict hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. Experts say it will harm children for no reason. www.ms.now/news/rfk-cdc...
ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner:
"'Do no harm' is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording. And I vote no."
ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner:
"'Do no harm' is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording. And I vote no."
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
That last point. Cassidy really has enormous leverage if he wants to use it. He would win this fight. Worst case is he winds up losing a primary and spends his 70s (he's 68 now) as a hero to millions. He'll likely never have as much influence over anything again as he has over this right now.
ACIP may end universal Hep B vaccination today.
Hep B prevention is Cassidy's passion, as he made clear during RFK Jr's confirmation hearings.
But let's not forget... his vote to confirm RFK Jr. got us into this mess!
He needs to use every lever of power he has in the Senate to fix it.
Hep B prevention is Cassidy's passion, as he made clear during RFK Jr's confirmation hearings.
But let's not forget... his vote to confirm RFK Jr. got us into this mess!
He needs to use every lever of power he has in the Senate to fix it.
December 4, 2025 at 5:19 PM
That last point. Cassidy really has enormous leverage if he wants to use it. He would win this fight. Worst case is he winds up losing a primary and spends his 70s (he's 68 now) as a hero to millions. He'll likely never have as much influence over anything again as he has over this right now.
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Why is the hepatitis B birth dose vaccine so important? Because it gives your baby protection when they need it most.
Let’s talk about it – and why delaying the vaccine could result in serious risks.👇🧵
Let’s talk about it – and why delaying the vaccine could result in serious risks.👇🧵
December 4, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Why is the hepatitis B birth dose vaccine so important? Because it gives your baby protection when they need it most.
Let’s talk about it – and why delaying the vaccine could result in serious risks.👇🧵
Let’s talk about it – and why delaying the vaccine could result in serious risks.👇🧵
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
A FOIA search - not even a release - for a single document will take nearly a year.
It's hard to think of a more clear example of WHY whistleblowers, leakers, and journalists are essential for the public's right to know.
It's hard to think of a more clear example of WHY whistleblowers, leakers, and journalists are essential for the public's right to know.
IRS says it needs at least 8 months to find a single email about ICE's request to access taxpayer data in response to my FOIA.
Helpfully reminds me I can sue them for the delay.
Helpfully reminds me I can sue them for the delay.
December 4, 2025 at 3:27 PM
A FOIA search - not even a release - for a single document will take nearly a year.
It's hard to think of a more clear example of WHY whistleblowers, leakers, and journalists are essential for the public's right to know.
It's hard to think of a more clear example of WHY whistleblowers, leakers, and journalists are essential for the public's right to know.
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Ilhan Omar: "The president knows he is failing, and so he is reverting to what he knows best: trying to divert attention by stoking bigotry." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/o...
Opinion | Ilhan Omar: Trump Knows He’s Failing. Cue the Bigotry.
www.nytimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Ilhan Omar: "The president knows he is failing, and so he is reverting to what he knows best: trying to divert attention by stoking bigotry." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/o...
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
NEW: @sherylnyt.bsky.social and I dove into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s quest to dismantle vaccine policy, telling the inside story of how his allies from the vaccine activism world and political appointees embarked on a crash course with government scientists.
Gift: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
Gift: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
Kennedy’s Methodical 2-Decade Quest to Dismantle Vaccine Policy
www.nytimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:20 PM
NEW: @sherylnyt.bsky.social and I dove into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s quest to dismantle vaccine policy, telling the inside story of how his allies from the vaccine activism world and political appointees embarked on a crash course with government scientists.
Gift: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
Gift: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
A picture is worth a 1000 words. The birth dose of hepatitis B vaccines in the USA eliminated perinatally acquired hepatitis B infection from over 20,000 cases a year before the vaccine was introduced to <20 cases a year. The gaslighting by the current members ACIP is obscene, unethical and cruel.
December 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
A picture is worth a 1000 words. The birth dose of hepatitis B vaccines in the USA eliminated perinatally acquired hepatitis B infection from over 20,000 cases a year before the vaccine was introduced to <20 cases a year. The gaslighting by the current members ACIP is obscene, unethical and cruel.
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
OPEN SPOT ALERT! There is an ID fellowship spot available at Boston Medical Center. Incredible team, sane workload (including consult caps and non-teaching service). Highly recommended if you're interested in TB/global health, HIV, SUD, or AMR/stewardship. Message me if interested! #IDsky #MedSky
December 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
After 20+ years of use in high-income countries, the hexavalent vaccine is finally reaching the children who need it most.
Read the full story of Mauritania’s vaccine rollout and what it means for child health: bit.ly/4ouLbnk
Read the full story of Mauritania’s vaccine rollout and what it means for child health: bit.ly/4ouLbnk
Mauritania now offers the six-in-one childhood vaccine. Here’s why that matters
It sounds like a small step, but it’s anything but: in July, Mauritania swapped out the five-in-one “pentavalent” vaccine for the hexavalent jab.
bit.ly
December 2, 2025 at 11:00 AM
After 20+ years of use in high-income countries, the hexavalent vaccine is finally reaching the children who need it most.
Read the full story of Mauritania’s vaccine rollout and what it means for child health: bit.ly/4ouLbnk
Read the full story of Mauritania’s vaccine rollout and what it means for child health: bit.ly/4ouLbnk
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
it’s that time of year again
December 1, 2025 at 8:41 PM
it’s that time of year again
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
The president is a political cartoon of corruption come to life, a gaudy grifter who is selling off pardons and lining his pockets, building a golden ballroom and protecting his fellow sex predator elites, all the while regular Americans are suffering and struggling to make ends meet.
Run on *that*
Run on *that*
November 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The president is a political cartoon of corruption come to life, a gaudy grifter who is selling off pardons and lining his pockets, building a golden ballroom and protecting his fellow sex predator elites, all the while regular Americans are suffering and struggling to make ends meet.
Run on *that*
Run on *that*
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments.
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
November 29, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments.
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
A 1,100-kilometre journey to another country to have fingerprints done...
With a lot of pressing, a Citizenship & Immigration senior operations person (who shall remain nameless) admitted to me years ago that Canada under-resourced visa operations for all of Africa (except South Africa of course.)
With a lot of pressing, a Citizenship & Immigration senior operations person (who shall remain nameless) admitted to me years ago that Canada under-resourced visa operations for all of Africa (except South Africa of course.)
600 days and counting: Why this woman is stuck waiting to visit her grandkids in Canada
600 days and counting: Why this woman is stuck waiting to visit her grandkids in Canada
Long trip from Botswana to a Canadian embassy was just the start of a process that has yielded few answers — and was originally expected to take weeks.
www.thestar.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:11 AM
A 1,100-kilometre journey to another country to have fingerprints done...
With a lot of pressing, a Citizenship & Immigration senior operations person (who shall remain nameless) admitted to me years ago that Canada under-resourced visa operations for all of Africa (except South Africa of course.)
With a lot of pressing, a Citizenship & Immigration senior operations person (who shall remain nameless) admitted to me years ago that Canada under-resourced visa operations for all of Africa (except South Africa of course.)
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Among the many things Carl Dieffenbach was working on: the re-competition and renewal of #HIV clinical research networks: ACTG, HPTN, HVTN, IMPAACT.
As someone who has worked in HIV for 35+ years, I can tell you Carl is a consummate scientific leader. We’ve been lucky to have him at head of DAIDS. The only thing that wins here is the virus.
Unfortunately, I can confirm that this is true.
I have known Carl for 2 decades and he is smart, dedicated, and quite apolitical, focused on science and getting stuff done on important problems.
Huge unnecessary loss of leadership and expertise.
I have known Carl for 2 decades and he is smart, dedicated, and quite apolitical, focused on science and getting stuff done on important problems.
Huge unnecessary loss of leadership and expertise.
November 24, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Among the many things Carl Dieffenbach was working on: the re-competition and renewal of #HIV clinical research networks: ACTG, HPTN, HVTN, IMPAACT.
Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
November 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.