Flu season started early, so consider a flu shot sooner than later : NPR

"There are enough signs pointing in the same direction to make me think, 'OK, yes. This is the start of flu season,'" says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health…

 https://www.npr.org/2026/10/07/nx-s1-5992940/early-flu-season-vaccine

 

What is this rash? #rash #doctor #skin

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OtA2_HcAigE

 

Friendly Atheist News Roundup 8/13/2026 -- Christian Beauty Queen Loses Crown Over Racist Posts (VIDEO Podcast Ep. 648)

0:00 Intro
1:34 Miss North Carolina USA said she lost her crown due to her faith. Then the racist posts surfaced.
10:55 Virginia school district sued after repeatedly changing rules to block LGBTQ student club.
23:10 School officials face charges after trans wrestler controversy fueled by the religious right.
35:15 An anti-trans Christian activist is furious that a reporter quoted her accurately.
43:00 Trump is trying to change childhood vaccine recommendations.
54:30 Oklahoma candidate James Taylor has turned his classroom into a Christian campaign studio.
Interview: 

• With Jessica: https://youtu.be/L7GKDL86puM?si=k9vVJvCIwkiNaC7-

• Without Jessica: https://www.youtube.com/live/W2DLFV6Zssc?si=vQKI4URGylAkDVHr

FDA panel backs first-of-its-kind flu vaccine using mRNA technology | PBS News

Tens of thousands of Americans die from influenza every year, and older adults are among the most vulnerable. There are various types of flu vaccines already available in the U.S., including three specifically recommended for people 65 and older. But vaccines made with the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology are faster to manufacture than other types — something experts say might help if the shape-shifting flu virus mutates in a way that requires suddenly brewing new doses to match. 

 "Having this technology available puts us in a better position to be prepared for emerging strains in the future," said Dr. Flor Munoz-Rivas of Texas Children's Hospital, one of FDA's advisers...

 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/fda-panel-backs-first-of-its-kind-flu-vaccine-using-mrna-technology

 

WaPo bombshell: RFK's CDC burying report on Covid vaccine success

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19AP8poaaFg

Alarm as acting CDC director delays report showing Covid vaccine benefits

“This is definitely an escalation of this administration’s undermining of CDC science,” said Dr Fiona Havers, a former senior adviser on vaccine policy at the CDC. “The fact that they are now blocking this is extremely concerning.”…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/10/cdc-chief-covid-vaccine

 

F.D.A. Reverses Decision and Agrees to Review Moderna’s mRNA Flu Vaccine...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Yxv1peSWVws

 

FDA refuses to consider Moderna flu shot in move experts claim is part of ‘anti-vaccine agenda’

"It's all pretext and obfuscation when the real agenda is rejecting conventional science and serving a predetermined anti-vaccine agenda," said Richard Hughes IV, a partner with Epstein Becker Green and law professor at George Washington University. 

Dorit Reiss, professor of law at UC Law San Francisco, said "personally humiliating a company is not a legitimate reason to refuse to review a submission", and the refusal needs to "address substantive reasons". Angela Rasmussen, an American virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, says "they're just coming up with reasons to not approve mRNA anything, and they're going to eventually do it to all these vaccines"...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/13/fda-moderna-flu-vaccine

 

RFK Jr’s Great Crusade (Conspirituality podcast, #286)

RFK Jr is one of the greatest perpetrators of a firehose of falsehoods that we’ve ever covered. The stakes were raised when he was installed as head of America’s public health system. A new longform article in The Atlantic offers an inside look at the history and current thinking of this man, as insightful for what it offers as telling for what it omits. We discuss the role of journalism in an age defined by propaganda.

Interview: 

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/286-rfk-jr-great-crusade

See the Show Notes here for links to articles on these related topics:

• Scoop: The new #2 at CDC is a top ivermectin prescriber who ended Louisiana’s vaccine-promotion media campaigns 
• Doctor Critical of Vaccines Quietly Appointed as C.D.C.’s Second in Command 
• CDC Quietly Turned Off Its Vaccine Search Tool. It’s Not Clear When It’s Coming Back. 
• The Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. Affair Is Messier Than We Ever Could Have Imagined 
• RFK Jr. and the Inexplicable Appeal of Repulsive Men 
• RFK Jr. is overhauling the program that helps preserve Americans' access to vaccines 
• Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right? 
• Nature: Pertussis, A Tale of Two Vaccines

FDA claims COVID vaccine contributed to the death of at least 10 children

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VtYwWkmBgoA

Amid Confusing CDC Guidance, Study Highlights New Risk of COVID-19 During Pregnancy — ProPublica

A Harvard study found that the children of women who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant may be at an increased risk for autism and other diagnoses, raising new concerns about the CDC's decision to stop recommending the vaccine to pregnant women...

https://www.propublica.org/article/covid-pregnancy-risk-autism-study-cdc 

 

Why shingles could make dementia more likely and how a vaccine can help - The Washington Post

One of the largest studies ever conducted on the link between the shingles vaccine and brain health offers insight into how the disease increases dementia risk...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/11/02/shingles-vaccine-dementia-prevention/

Henry Ford Health didn't publish a vaccine study. Was it "buried" or just "rejected science"?

Henry Ford, of course, vehemently denies this. The health system has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the makers of the documentary, saying that it "condemns the purposeful twisting of information and the spread of disinformation happening on the topic, which poses a direct threat to public health." 

"The film proved nothing except that we have rigorous scientific standards in place for a reason: to ensure the only studies we submit for publication come from research rooted in sound, infallible data that have passed our stringent review processes," the health system said in a statement. "We do not bend to pressure from those with special interests, and will never compromise the standards that have helped make us a world-renowned academic medical research institution."…

https://www.michiganpublic.org/health/2025-11-06/henry-ford-health-didnt-publish-a-vaccine-study-was-it-buried-or-just-rejected-science 

Quick math refresher for Donald Trump...

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0e04a1Lv70I

 

COVID is spiking again, especially in these states

The spike is particularly pronounced in one region of the country, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, where about 15% of COVID tests reported to the CDC are turning up positive…

https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/5473466-covid-is-spiking-again-especially-in-these-states/ 

RFK Jr. may soon ban Covid vaccines. Doctors and public health experts are fighting back. | Vox

Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics said that the group would continue to recommend Covid vaccines for kids under the age of 2 — openly defying Kennedy's move this May to end the recommendation for both healthy children and pregnant people. 

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology followed suit, saying on Friday that it would also continue to advise pregnant people to get a Covid shot…

https://www.vox.com/health/459226/rfk-jr-trump-covid-vaccine-ban

 

 

Kennedy's Bloodbath (Conspirituality podcast)

The implications of awarding Robert F Kennedy, Jr with a position he’s completely unqualified for are becoming clearer by the day. While he’s made numerous egregious and dangerous moves as Secretary of HHS, canceling nearly $500 million of mRNA research grants is one of the most startling and shortsighted to date. Today we look at both the microcosm and macrocosm of such a move.

Interview: 

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/270-kennedys-bloodbath

Pregnant doctor denied Covid-19 vaccine sues Trump administration | Trump administration | The Guardian

A pregnant physician who was denied a Covid-19 vaccine is suing the Trump administration alongside a group of leading doctors associations, charging that the administration sought to "desensitize the public to anti-vaccine and anti-science rhetoric", according to their attorney...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/07/pregnant-doctor-covid-19-vaccine-rfk-jr-trump 

 

Do adults need a measles booster? An epidemiologist explains who is immune | PBS News

"People born before 1957 are presumed to have lifelong immunity because measles was so contagious that almost everyone contracted it before age 15. Unless there are special circumstances, they probably don't need a vaccine now. 

Most people born after 1957 would have received the shot as children, so they should be set for life. Physicians and public health experts don't recommend most people in this group get a second measles shot, though there are exceptions..."

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/do-adults-need-a-measles-booster-an-epidemiologist-explains-who-is-immune 

 

Top Trump FDA official Brenner hits pause on Novavax Covid-19 vaccine decision - POLITICO

Dr. Sara Brenner, FDA's Principal Deputy Commissioner, took the highly unusual step, cutting against longstanding precedent at the agency designed to shield scientific assessments from political interference. Typically, political FDA appointees follow the advice of career staff tasked with reviewing reams of data on drugs and vaccines seeking approval. 

The move comes amid HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to force out the top official responsible for reviewing such vaccines, Dr. Peter Marks, and put his deputy Julie Tierney on administrative leave...

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/02/top-trump-fda-official-brenner-hits-pause-on-novavax-vaccine-decision-00266623