Andrea J Zimmer, MD
andreajzimmer.bsky.social
Andrea J Zimmer, MD
@andreajzimmer.bsky.social
UNMC l Omaha, NE l Onc ID/TXID l Med Ed l Faculty Development l Twin mom
Views=mine, do not reflect my employer
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
DOGE recommended firing workers at:

-FDA, which oversees Neuralink

-FAA, which oversees SpaceX

-USAID, which probed Starlink

-CFPB, which oversees Tesla's financing arm and a potential payment platform on X.

"Conflict of interest" is a severe understatement.
February 19, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Crockett: "Down in Alabama, who's broke. Down in Louisiana, who's broke. I can go through pretty much the entire south and tell you that they're broke and rely on a lot of welfare from the government. To be perfectly honest, it is tax dollars from these big blue states...we're in the find out phase"
February 20, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
The opposite of DEI is NOT "color-blind, hire-the-best-qualified." It's "continue to hire the incompetent white male just because he's a white male." And the entire Trump administration proves that point.
February 20, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
🚨 Yesterday was a true Valentine’s Day massacre for public health.

💔 Over 5,200 jobs cut at NIH & CDC
💔 EIS program slashed at CDC
💔 Federal funding cut for schools and universities with COVID-19 vaccine mandates

We are gutting public health, with repercussions that will last for generations.
February 15, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Doing great 👍
February 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Gutting the CDC right as we’re on the cusp of major outbreaks of transmissible diseases is a very bad idea.
February 15, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
NEW: The CDC is currently removing all the influenza resources from their website during the worst flu season in decades.
February 15, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
This is so important - the line of defense is at the state level.

Seeing changes in LA and WV are examples of moving in the wrong direction
Months ago I started posting about the importance of monitoring state childhood vaccine requirements for school entry. I cannot emphasize this enough. States decide which vaccines are required. Anti-vaxxers are organized and will appear at state legislative hearings and repeat lies with hubris.
February 15, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
📌CDC EMPLOYEE RESOURCES📌

Thread organized by topic. Reply with resources/requests. Resources not fully vetted.

SAVE DOCS (eOPF, mypay, benefeds, PMAS, CV, telework agreement, contacts). Save/BCC termination email.

Opening a termination email triggers lockout countdown. DO NOT OPEN until ready.
February 15, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Elon Musk’s staffers have been going through data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which oversees healthcare coverage for over 160 million people through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace.
February 15, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
A judge just blocked Elon Musk and co-president Donald Trump from firing the financial cops at the CFPB who protect consumers from Wall Street scams.

There's power in fighting back.
Judge temporarily halts mass firings at CFPB, preserves agency data
The order also blocks acting CFPB Director Russ Vought from taking steps to defund the agency.
www.politico.com
February 14, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
This needs to be emphasized. Public health capacity is being rapidly destroyed and this cannot be undone. The expertise and institutional memory will be gone, and it will take years or even decades to restore.
February 15, 2025 at 4:17 PM
A free, independent press is a cornerstone of democracy and functions to hold those in power accountable. When journalists are coerced into reporting using only government-sanctioned language and information, the press is no longer free. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
White House bans AP journalists from Oval Office amid continued Gulf dispute
News agency, which has declined to use ‘Gulf of America’ name in stories, also barred from Air Force One
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
The wide-ranging nature of the federal workforce cuts will leave all of us more vulnerable to disease and other safety threats, including from outside the United States, says IDSA President Tina Tan, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS, FAAP.

Our statement: https://buff.ly/40UK0E8
February 12, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
In a joint statement, IDSA and HIVMA reaffirmed our core mission and values and emphasized that inclusion, diversity, access and equity — and an unwavering commitment to health equity — are essential to improving health outcomes for all.

Read: https://buff.ly/3WXIfVA
February 12, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
NIH doesn’t just support infectious disease research—it drives breakthroughs in cancer, childhood diseases, heart disease, diabetes & more.

Thanks to NIH, we have:
💉 Cancer immunotherapy
❤️ Cholesterol-lowering statins
🩸 Insulin for diabetes

Investing in NIH = investing in life-saving discoveries.
February 8, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Under fascism, no one is safe.

Universities stayed quiet as the admin targeted DEI & foreign aid, censored research, etc.

Now, they face devastating cuts to indirect cost rates, threatening research & operations.

Silence won’t protect institutions. It won’t protect people; it never does.
February 8, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
I am deeply disappointed by the subdued response of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (@idsainfo.bsky.social) to the dismantling of public health structures, both in the US & globally

Here's what I wrote in the closed listserv (response: 🦗) in hopes of stimulating discussion here #IDSky
February 7, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Moving defense of childhood #vaccines by Vanderbilt vaccine expert Kathy Edwards in JAMA. Stunning that so many people fear the tools that prevent children from dying and being maimed, rather than the pathogens that resurge when vaccine use declines. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Reflections on the Successes of Pediatric Vaccines
This Viewpoint discusses the importance of early and continued vaccine use in the US.
jamanetwork.com
February 6, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Meanwhile... we the people have spent 7 million dollars on Elon and his stooges for a weeks worth of "work". Make it make sense. rollcall.com/2025/02/04/w...
White House opens funding spigot for DOGE expenses - Roll Call
Nearly $7 million over the past week has gone to cover the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s expenses.
rollcall.com
February 7, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner and Chair of the FEC. There's a legal way to replace FEC commissioners-this isn't it. I've been so fortunate to serve the American people and stir up some good trouble along the way. That's not changing anytime soon.
February 6, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Farmers slammed. “American farms… supply about about 41 percent of the food aid that the agency sends around the world.” And “hundreds of tons of American-grown wheat stranded in Houston alone.”

wapo.st/3WSo7nI
Gutting USAID threatens billions of dollars for U.S. farms, businesses
U.S. businesses that sold goods and services to USAID are in limbo, including American farms dealing in rice, wheat and soybeans.
wapo.st
February 6, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
Rubio claims that @USAID lifesaving assistance for health and humanitarian needs will continue. But his team just communicated that the entire agency will be imminently reduced from 14,000 to 294 people. Just 12 in Africa.
February 6, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Andrea J Zimmer, MD
“We are witnessing one of the worst and most costly foreign policy blunders in U.S. history.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/o...
Opinion | Samantha Power: Killing U.S.A.I.D. Is a Win for Autocrats Everywhere (Gift Article)
The attacks on the agency are cruel and counterproductive.
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2025 at 3:43 AM