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The American Academy of Pediatrics @ameracadpeds.bsky.social · 5d

Currently, millions of children are unable to access COVID-19 vaccines through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, a program that provides free vaccines to families that are unable to afford them. Read the full story in AAP News. publications.aap.org/aapnews/news...

Pediatricians express frustrations over delay in COVID vaccines for children in federal program

Millions of children are unable to access COVID-19 vaccines through the Vaccines for Children program because federal health officials have not finalized recommendations on who should get vaccinated.

publications.aap.org

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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 6d

I think the model was: you can do something you passionately love, be an expert in it, that thing can be good and make the world better—and people will love you for it. What a dream.

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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 6d

When I was a little girl I wanted to be like Jane Goodall.

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NPR @npr.org · 6d

JUST IN: Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

Jane Goodall, legendary primatologist, has died at age 91

Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

n.pr

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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 8d

A landmark new study in JAMA Pediatrics shows the HPV vaccine is doing exactly what it promised & more. 17yrs after rollout, adolescent vaccination has slashed HPV infxns not only among those vaccinated but also those unvaccinated, showing powerful herd protection.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Population-Level Effectiveness and Herd Protection 17 Years After HPV Vaccine

This cross-sectional study investigates population-level effectiveness and herd protection in the first 17 years after human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among adolescent girls and young women at ...

jamanetwork.com

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Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 9d

Say it often, say it loud:

"Overall, research has not supported the common-sense presumption that digital approaches to schooling are better than non-digital alternatives. At the broadest level, widespread computer use in education has been found to be associated with lower student achievement."

Fit for Purpose? How Today’s Commercial Digital Platforms Subvert Key Goals of Public Education

Digital educational platforms have become ubiquitous in American classrooms, with tools like Google Workspace for Education, Kahoot!, Zearn, Khan Academy, and many others now structuring curriculum, i...

nepc.colorado.edu

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Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · 11d

Japan tried this. They suspended MMR in 1993 and used monovalent vaccines.

Result: coverage plummeted, measles and rubella cases shot up, they had multiple measles outbreaks (one with >100k cases), and they then switched back to MMR.

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Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · 11d

From an immunological standpoint, giving vaccines together makes sense. The immune system is designed to handle multiple challenges simultaneously and that's what happens in real life.

The idea that we need to 'space things out' reflects a misunderstanding of how immunity works.

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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 14d

👉 Natural infection = immunity + risk of hospitalization, complications, long-term sequelae, or death.
👉 Vaccination = immunity + short-lived side effects.
The outcome (immune memory) may look the same, but the cost is worlds apart.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics @ameracadpeds.bsky.social · 14d

Decades of research have found that acetaminophen is safe for children when administered as recommended. Misleading claims link the medicine to autism. These false claims send a dangerous message to parents and does a disservice to autistic individuals. www.aap.org/en/news-room...

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ACOG @acog.org · 15d

ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 18d

Okay. ACIP meeting is over. Here are the four things they voted on with regard to Covid vaccines. Votes 1, 3 and 4 passed. Vote 2 (the call for a prescription requirement) did NOT pass.

The language is so unclear that two legal experts I've consulted so far don't know what this means for access.

Covid-19 Vaccines — Vote #1

It is the sense of the committee that the CDC engages in an effort to promote more consistent and comprehensive informed consent processes, and as part of that considers adding language accessible to patients and medical providers to describe at least the six risks and uncertainties included in the WG chair presentation.

Covid-19 vaccines — vote #2

It is the sense of the committee that state and local jurisdictions should require a prescription for the administration of a Covid-19 vaccination.

Covid-19 vaccines — vote #3

It is the sense of the committee that in conversations with patients before Covid-19 vaccination, authorized healthcare providers discuss the risks and benefits of the vaccination for the individual patient. The discussion should consider known risk factors for severe outcomes from Covid-19, such as age, prior infections, immunosuppression, and certain comorbidities identified by the CDC, and include a discussion of the potential benefits and risks of vaccination and related uncertainties, especially those outlined in the vaccine information statement, as part of informed consent.

Covid-19 vaccines — vote #4

The pediatric and adult immunization schedules for administration of FDA-approved Covid-19 vaccines should be updated as follows:

Adults 65 and older: Vaccination based on individual-based decision-making, also known as shared clinical decision making

Individuals 6 months to 64 years: Vaccination based on individual-based decision-making — with an emphasis that the risk-benefit of vaccination is most favorable for individuals who are at an increased risk for severe Covid-19 disease and lowest for individuals who are not at an increased risk, according to the CDC list of Covid-19 risk factors.

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Katy Stephenson @kstephensonmd.bsky.social · 19d

Listening to ACIP meeting which is a catastrophe, as predicted. I’d like emphasize in all this that the CDC subject matter experts and leads have been tremendous and continue to represent good science on our behalf. I am very grateful for their dedication, despite internal and external pressure.

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Alicia Ault @aliciaault.bsky.social · 19d

CDC official giving ACIP and update on COVID epidemiology. As has been seen over the years, the very youngest and very oldest are most likely to be hospitalized due to COVID.

#Medsky #IDsky #infectiousdisease

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Alicia Ault @aliciaault.bsky.social · 19d

AMA and NFID liaison reps to ACIP are now pointing out what the data has shown: that babies too young to be vaccinated are at highest risk for hospitalization and death from COVID. Maternal vaccination is the best way to protect them, they said.

#Medsky #IDsky #vaccines #pediatrics #obgyn

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Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS @jessicamalaty.bsky.social · 19d

We vaccinate to *reduce harm.* Vaccines are not immunity passports with absolute guarantees of no infection. What drives me crazy is that these people know that. By repeating these claims, they validate and endorse vaccine refusal.

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Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS @jessicamalaty.bsky.social · 19d

Has everyone forgotten the endpoints of the original COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials? They were designed to prevent hospitalizations & deaths. Transmission reduction was observed, but total transmission prevention was never promised.
This is a bad-faith argument against vaccine effectiveness.

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Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · 19d

Yes! Exactly the types of affordability/access divides that VFC was created in ‘94 to address. (And it’s done so!) The immediate issue here is a pretty niche one—15% of families who opted for a non-preferred option for 1 dose of 1 vaccine—but likely a harbinger of more consequential changes to come.

Rachel Sachs @rachelsachs.bsky.social · 19d

Thread. ACIP's reversal this morning imposes new financial barriers to accessing the MMRV vaccine for VFC-eligible families, while AHIP's public statements mean that privately insured families will continue to have access with no cost-sharing, at least for now.

Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · 19d

They reversed the confusing VFC vote that would have preserved MMRV coverage for kids <4. But contrary to how the chair described the effect of this new vote, it really just means that VFC-eligible families of <4 kids won’t have free access to MMRV (which they no longer recommend) even if desired.

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Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · 19d

It’s no longer required that private insurers cover this vaccine for this age group either (per yesterday’s other vote), but AHIP’s recent announcement suggests that their coverage won’t change, ensuring that financial barriers to that parental choice won’t exist (for those with private ins only).

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Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · 19d

They reversed the confusing VFC vote that would have preserved MMRV coverage for kids <4. But contrary to how the chair described the effect of this new vote, it really just means that VFC-eligible families of <4 kids won’t have free access to MMRV (which they no longer recommend) even if desired.

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Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · 19d

And they are starting today’s meeting by cleaning up this mess from yesterday. Not a surprise.

Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · 19d

None of the ACIP understand that they just voted to maintain VFC coverage for the MMRV vaccine for kids under 4 (50% of US kids) through one vote—a good thing!—while removing the overall recommendation for any kid to get it (and thus ending ACA coverage requirement for kids with private insurance).

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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 19d

My thought on why the ACIP HepB vote was postponed.

The scientific evidence that was presented by career CDC scientists as well as from the numerous expert public commenters inarguably demonstrated why the birth dose is NECESSARY.

RFK Jr.’s ACIP couldn’t come up with a way to deny it in time.

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Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 19d

ACIP voted to table the hepatitis B vaccine decision for now.

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Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · 19d

Without the birth dose:

- Screening misses cases
- Babies get infected from household contacts
- ~90% of infected infants develop chronic infection leading to lifelong liver disease, cancer, early death.

Before 1991, thousands of U.S. children were infected each year.

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Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · 19d

Blue line shows ages 0-19: near-zero hepatitis B cases. The birth dose created an entire generation nearly free of hepatitis B. Adults who missed this protection still get infected. That's 30 years of proof this works. Tomorrow's vote could end it.
www.cdc.gov/hepatitis-su...

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