Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Maggie Astor

@maggieastor.bsky.social

33K followers 650 following 3.8K posts

Reporter at The New York Times writing about the intersection of health and politics, especially in marginalized communities. NYT Guild steward. No, not one of those Astors.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · Aug 14

ICYMI: My dispatch from Phoenix about extreme heat's toll on unhoused people.

People are passing out from dehydration, getting third-degree burns from the sidewalk, being hospitalized for heat-related illness and more. One woman was in an accident and the ground burned her foot down to the bone.

Homeless and Burning in America’s Hottest City

www.nytimes.com

2 22 63

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 8h

***DON'T*** know. I changed "whichever techbro thinks" to "whichever techbros think" and didn't change the second verb. Goddammit.

1 11

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 8h

Whichever techbros think that shoving Gemini pop-ups in my face every time I blink might get me to try Gemini doesn't know that, almost a quarter-century after my bat mitzvah, I still deliberately make pasta on the first night of Passover every year because my mom made me go to Hebrew school

2 59

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 9h

Fuck offfffffff

A pop-up window in my inbox that says "Draft emails confidently with Gemini. Gemini can help you write your drafts in seconds and quickly refine them." The two options — "continue" and "try it now" — both suggest agreement to use Gemini. You have to go to the X in the upper right corner to say no.

4 3 120

Reposted by Maggie Astor

Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 9h

"In North Carolina and other states, low-income families who normally get no-cost Covid-19 vaccines for their kids have been told those shots aren’t available because states have been unable to order Covid-19 vaccines through the VFC program."

www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/h...

Low-income families are still waiting on Covid-19 vaccines for kids, but states say they’re coming | CNN

Many low-income families who normally get no-cost Covid-19 vaccines for their kids through the Vaccines for Children program have been told those shots aren’t available because states have been unable...

www.cnn.com

2 29 36

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 16h

I wrote 15 pages of a 30-page paper the day before it was due, paused for a panic attack in which I literally tore my bedsheets by digging my nails into them, wrote the other 15 pages the night before it was due, printed it five minutes before class started, and got an A. I didn't make any of it up.

Dane 🔜 NYCC AA L-34 @monkeyminion.com · 1d

I wrote a 15 page report on heraldic symbolism in medieval armor and weapon design for my art history class the night before it was due (8am class). Made up 90% of it (only found one book for reference) and got an A. GenAI could fucking never.

wrote 20 pages on Faulkner's The Bear four hours before final papers were due on trucker pills and coffee and cigarettes and got an A, fuck you.
You people couldn't hang with real slackers.
finn
wokeupchic • 4d
It's fuck Al till your homework due in 25 minutes

2 3 63

Reposted by Maggie Astor

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 19h

We will be writing more of these. If you’re a scientist and your science has been disrupted, we want to hear from you: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...

Has Your Scientific Work Been Cut? We Want to Hear.

www.nytimes.com

44 65

Reposted by Maggie Astor

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 1d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

140 1.8K 4.6K

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 1d

ICYMI: You're not alone if you're having trouble finding a Covid shot for your child.

A lot of factors are at play. Access through the Vaccines for Children program should open up now that the acting CDC director finally approved the CDC vaccine panel's recommendations, but other barriers remain.

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

1 6 17

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 2d

The email is three paragraphs

An AI prompt offering to "summarize this email"

1 22

Reposted by Maggie Astor

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 2d

President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have created new obstacles for many people seeking Covid vaccines. But it has been particularly difficult to secure shots for children, including infants and toddlers, who are at higher risk of severe illness from Covid even if they are healthy.

Parents Struggle to Find Covid Vaccines for Their Children Amid Regulatory Confusion

Children under 12 need different versions of Covid vaccines, but many pharmacies and pediatricians’ offices aren’t stocking them.

nyti.ms

19 58 160

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, adult doses are for 12+. There *are* some states that restrict pharmacists' ability to vaccinate minors, so it's possible that's what you're running into, but also very possible you just got an individual pharmacist with bad info. As corporate policy, Walgreens is not limiting to 18+.

1 3

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 2d

There are a lot of reasons for this. Some predate Trump (e.g., demand for pediatric vaccines is low overall, so some providers don't see them as worth ordering, which hurts the parents and children who do want them). But others are directly connected to recent Trump administration actions.

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

1 3 17

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 2d

Covid vaccines *are* approved for ages 6 months and up. Moderna and Pfizer have made pediatric doses. These doses have shipped to providers who ordered them. Children have gotten them and insurance should cover them. They exist!

But finding a provider who has them in stock can be really difficult.

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

1 3 35

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 2d

This one's for all the parents who have told me they're going through hell trying to find Covid vaccines for their children: It's not just you! Gift link:

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

11 67 180

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

There already are — they're FDA-approved, have been manufactured and shipped to providers, and many have gotten them. However, shots for <12 are harder to find than >12 because fewer providers (including both doctor's offices + pharmacies) have ordered them. I have an article about this coming soon.

1 1

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

I've been making fiddly adjustments to the chair all day and every adjustment produces a fart-like sound and I want to die

1 15

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

So sorry to hear that! If you're willing to share details about the runaround, you can reach me at [email protected].

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

HHS announced it today: www.hhs.gov/press-room/c...

CVS and Walgreens info is based on my reporting: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/w...

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

CVS and Walgreens told me that once the recs were officially approved, they wouldn't require people to be 65+ or have an underlying condition. I don't have confirmation from other pharmacies. Past experience suggests some individual pharmacists may try to require it, but corporate policy won't.

1 1 3

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

It exists and is available in some places, but it's been very hard for people to find for a variety of reasons. I have an article coming out about that soon (hopefully tomorrow).

2 10

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

To be clear, I would be EXTREMELY UNSURPRISED to see a delay in this information reaching individual pharmacists. It is incredibly possible — likely, really — that some people will go to their pharmacies in the coming days and be told they need a prescription by pharmacists with outdated info.

1 10 37

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

CDC has finally adopted the recommendations its vaccine panel made Sept. 19. This should increase access to Covid vaccines somewhat — CVS and Walgreens had said once the recs were official, they'd offer the shots w/o Rx nationwide, and Vaccines for Children program also needed the official approval

11 150 370

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

I have multiple degenerated disks in my lower back and a story to file, I don't have the time or spinal cushioning for this

2 1 25

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

Only people with bad backs can understand the horror of arriving at your desk to find that, over the weekend, the company "helpfully" replaced the chair that you spent months painstakingly trial-and-error fiddling into the one, single, precise non-painful configuration with a New Fancier Chair

4 3 85

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 5d

As of last year, yes!

The 2024 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog | Defector

[walks out to greet you as you pull into my circular driveway] There you are! Oh my goodness, look at you! You look so festive! Why don’t you leave your bags in the breezeway for now and come on in? A...

defector.com