Breaking: CDC advisers weaken COVID vaccine recommendations but stop short of requiring prescriptions
ACIP narrowly rejected its working group’s proposal to require a doctor’s prescription for the #COVID19 vaccine
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 5:34 PM
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“This vote provides for immunization coverage through all payment mechanisms including entitlement programs such as Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and Medicare, as well as insurance plans through the federal health insurance marketplace,” a HHS spokesperson said.
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran.com) September 19, 2025 at 5:11 PM
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US Weekly COVID update: Sep 22, 2025
🔸1 in 57 Actively Infectious
🔸857,000 New Daily Infections
🔸6,450,000 Infections In The Past Week
🔸177,000,000 Infections in 2025
🔸323,000 to 1,290,000 Weekly Long COVID Cases
🔸1,800 to 3,100 Weekly Deaths
Source: pmc19.com/data/— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 12:45 AM
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So far this year, more than 4.3 million COVID cases have been reported in the U.S., causing 301,585 hospitalizations and 18,717 deaths.
— BNO News (Health) (@health.bnonews.com) September 21, 2025 at 9:49 PM
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Updated map of the Northeast Public Health Collaborative. Health departments who have officially confirmed that they are part of the collaborative include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York City.
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran.com) September 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
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AHIP, the country’s biggest health insurance association said its members will continue to cover updated COVID and flu vaccines through the end of 2026.
AHIP covers over 200M people & includes Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Centene, Aetna, Elevance, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, Molina, and Cigna.— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran.com) September 17, 2025 at 10:04 PM
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As @maddow.msnbc.com tells it, "Grandparents worried about their grandchildren's health are "doing something about it – something simple and direct and therefore also kind of radical." TY 💙 @theprogressivemag.bsky.social Sign up to join @donnagaffney.bsky.social and me at grandparentsforvaccines.com
— Nurse Teri 🇺🇦🏳️🌈 🇲🇽 🇨🇦 👩🏽⚕️ 👊🏼 (@nurseteria.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 5:39 AM
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Physicians' stress and anxiety have returned to pandemic levels, according to a national survey from The Physicians Foundation.
Read more at: https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/workforce/117530?trw=no— MedPage Today (@medpagetoday.com) September 20, 2025 at 11:14 AM
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"No vaccine was tested more extensively than the RNA vaccines, and no vaccine was given to more people than the mRNA vaccines, & they were found to be incredibly safe…and effective. They saved 20 million lives, & they stopped a pandemic that was shutting down the world."
-Drew Weissman— Ed Belongia MD (@belongia.bsky.social) September 20, 2025 at 11:23 AM
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The NYT liveblog on the autism press conference is a fascinating read — largely because it's written by health reporters and not political reporters.
Look at how direct and appropriately shocked these posts are! www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09…— D Lavoie (@djlavoie.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 9:45 PM
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Before people call to ask. Measles is not available as a single antigen product in the USA. It's not FDA approved, we don't carry it, and we can't order it for you.
— Thomas [redacted] DO (@tom.medsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 5:13 PM
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I like this. Since under RFK Jr, Covid shots are now for people with underlying conditions that put them at risk, Michigan’s chief medical executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian states that not having the most recent Covid shot constitutes such an underlying condition.
www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/inside…— Carl T. Bergstrom (@carlbergstrom.com) September 19, 2025 at 2:09 PM
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Susan Monarez is a public health hero.
#ProfilesInCourage— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 1:39 PM
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Still broken, at least for me:
I'm probably late to the party here but has anyone else noticed that the US vaccine-finder website vaccines.gov is now broken?
— Carl T. Bergstrom (@carlbergstrom.com) September 20, 2025 at 5:20 PM
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France: 3 Straight Weeks of Rising COVID Infections
Emergency visits for COVID spiked in late August, up 20% in under-15s and 12% in ages 15-74.
Brittany and western France most affected regions; in Charente-Maritime, 9.5% of ER visits were COVID, 5x more than the previous week.
archive.md/gOIPR— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) September 21, 2025 at 7:10 PM
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Malaysia: New Covid-19 variant XFG detected
"XFG variant accounted for 8.2% of the 43,087 cumulative cases reported in the 35th epidemiology week"
"The latest genomic surveillance shows NB.1.8.1 (34%), JN.1 (18.1%), XEC (13.3%), XFG (8.2%), and others (21%)"
Source: archive.md/RNxW3— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 4:17 AM
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The Covid Contracts: Follow the Money review – a devastating picture of the biggest spending scandal ever
— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) September 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
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Where are the Covid nasal vaccines for the US to block infections and transmission?
Here's yet another with a very good profile in people for mucosal immunity and high neutralizing antibodies in all participants (from China)
www.nature.com/articles/s41…— Eric Topol (@erictopol.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 11:06 AM
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Older adults less likely to be classified as having long COVID, study finds
Among more than 10,000 participants with prior infection, the odds of having long COVID symptoms were lower in those aged 70 and older than in younger age groups.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 4:19 PM
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Hidden Heart Damage: How COVID Continues Haunting Millions
"5 million people worldwide may be walking around with cardiac long COVID, their hearts silently struggling months or years after their initial infection cleared"
Report: academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advan…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 8:51 PM
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A consensus report on the cardiovascular manifestations, diagnosis, prevention and treatment from Covid and #LongCovid
academic.oup.com/eurjpc/advan…— Eric Topol (@erictopol.bsky.social) September 18, 2025 at 12:49 PM
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The hidden group that loses COVID protection fast.
A Japanese study reveals a group who lose vaccine protection faster than others—even if they start with stronger antibody levels.
Source: archive.md/RcFWL— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) September 18, 2025 at 8:13 PM
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Study links long #COVID to higher risk of heavy menstrual bleeding
Women with long COVID also had longer menstrual periods and bleeding between periods.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
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“A growing number of scientists believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may instead be subtly altering our immune systems. If correct, their hypothesis will change how we understand everything from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to shingles to sepsis”
www.bmj.com/content/390/…— NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge (@histoftech.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Immunity reset?
SARS-CoV-2 is linked to “an unusually high level of ‘indiscriminate’ killing of T cells,” says Leitner, adding that this observation is “reminiscent of” measles, which can cause immune amnesia by depleting memory B cells (a different type of immune cell), leaving people vulnerable to pathogens they were previously immune to.This concept of immune “reset” after infections isn’t new. A hallmark of this phenomenon is the reactivation of dormant viruses, which re-emerge while the immune system is in a weakened state. Reactivation of viruses, including Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and varicella zoster virus (VZV), has been commonly observed after covid-19.
A 2023 study reported EBV reactivation in covid positive patients at more than double the rate seen in covid negative patients.8 As for VZV, a 2022 analysis of US insurance records found that people over 50 were 15% more likely to develop herpes zoster after a covid-19 diagnosis.9 Jeimy says, “There’s a pathophysiology that already exists for other viruses like EBV or measles. The plausibility is there. The precedent is there.”
Brazilian researchers found that covid-19 triggered a sharp rise in T cell exhaustion and cellular ageing.10 Although the comparator group was limited, the strongest effects were seen in CD8+ T cells, which suppress latent viruses such as EBV and VZV. These effects were seen even after mild infections.
Some researchers believe that these lingering immune effects, which are often subtle, may represent the sorts of immune system “scars” that Leitner describes…
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I spoke with @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social about respiratory disease surveillance, long covid, and how people can use disease data to make decisions thesicktimes.org/2025/09/18/e…
— Caitlin Rivers (@cmyeaton.bsky.social) September 19, 2025 at 9:49 AM
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Shoutout to @thewhn.bsky.social for putting together an excellent, science-based Q&A on why many of us are still masking😷
"Yes, We Continue Wearing Masks—Here’s Why: Common Questions Answered."
whn.global/yes-we-conti…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) September 21, 2025 at 10:38 PM
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Measles cases up 31-fold in the Americas region this year
The Americas region have reported 11,313 cases so far this year.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 4:01 PM
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Two new studies predict results of declining #MMR uptake, restricting non-medical vaccine exemptions
A 5% drop in coverage could substantially increase outbreak magnitudes in Texas, while restricting non–medical exemptions could increase US uptake.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/c…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
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Belatedly: #USDA announced that Nebraska has joined the states that have detected #H5N1 #birdflu in dairy cattle. Since H5 was first detected in cows in the US in spring 2024, 1,080 herds in 18 states have tested positive for the virus. www.aphis.usda.gov/news/agency-…
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) September 16, 2025 at 4:36 PM
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Minnesota reports first H5N1 detection in poultry since April
The USDA also reported an H5 detection in a raccoon in Minnesota.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/a…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) September 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
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US lab data show sharp increase in superbug incidence
In 29 states, reporting of carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CP-CRE) clinical cultures rose by 69% from 2019 through 2023.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/a…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 11:22 AM
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CDC: most enteric disease outbreaks linked to fruit, backyard poultry
In 2023 the outbreaks were linked to 12 deaths.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/f…
Photo: sierravalleygirl/Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 4:08 PM
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Senegal just introduced a single shot hexavalent vaccine which covers:
Tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork…— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) September 18, 2025 at 12:01 PM
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In the highly connected world we live in, outbreaks of deadly pathogens occurring in places that seem faraway are always a lot closer than we realize. Containing the ongoing Ebola outbreak protects people in the DRC and globally.
www.reuters.com/business/hea…— BK. Titanji (@boghuma.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 2:33 PM
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Ah yes, a mystery illness with all the symptoms of COVID… but definitely not COVID 😂
Source: x.com/AdamTsuris/s…— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Bruce K in ATH-GR
In personal international news, Greece is (either once again, or still) offering free COVID vaccinations. I signed up for an available appointment this coming Monday to be on the safe side.
Jay
Thank you, Anne Laurie.
So, one out at work, came in Monday, lasted an hour, went home, got tested,……………..yup, Covid.
3 out at T’s work, yup, Covid.
No shot’s or flu shots yet available.
Glad we never stopped making with good masks.
glc
Lots of material, thanks for the round-up.
Aziz, light!
Thank you AL.
MAGA — Morons Are Governing America.
Rusty
AL, these posts continue to be very informative, thank you! Oddly, it’s the folks in my choir who have been testing positive for Covid over others I know. As of last week there still didn’t seem to be Covid vaccines for minors in NH, we may have to drive our son to MA or ME to get a dose. Our daughter is due the end of November and has sent us a list of vaccinations needed if we want to see the baby, I need to confirm my Tdap status and might need an update. Given her husband’s family has some MAGA members, I am glad they are being insistent on vaccinations.
feather as a light
Periodic reminder that posts like this one which get estimates from amateur websites like PMC which purport to estimate the number of covid infections aren’t scientific, and aren’t from trustworthy sources.
There is a very strong scientific consensus that reliable estimates of covid infection incidence or prevalence can’t be made using wastewater data.
See for example this report with over 100 authors from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine: “While is it fairly well established that trends in respiratory viruses in wastewater correspond to the rise and fall of infections in the community, translation of these values to an empirical estimate of the number of people infected in the community remains a major challenge. Unlike hospitalizations or deaths that can provide known values to calibrate statistical models, the number of people infected at a point in time is difficult to determine.” (p. 103).
Platforming amateur internet estimates of epidemiological quantities isn’t a good idea. Expertise matters. The source for these numbers has no training in infectious disease epidemiology. Their methods are not published in such a way that other can reproduce their data, and they have not been not peer-reviewed.
David_C
I had the opportunity to watch the Five Guys press conference on Monday. Right off the bat, they treated autism as a fate worse than death and with amazing precision pinpointed the culprits. But the fact is that fever is also associated with increased rates of autism, and really needs to be managed with more than thoughts and prayers. The study from the head of Harvard’s school of public health has been contradicted by other studies. The author also had been paid to testify in a Tylenol injury lawsuit, so there may be a conflict there.
They also advanced a supplement as a cure, raising hopes for people like Dr. Oz who may sell such supplements, but this only works if the baby has a defiance. I guess. Was there a Gold Standard, placebo-controlled trial that showed this? Who knows?
They mentioned, but didn’t spend too much time on, the ADSI grants from NIH. The NYT pulled together a panel of experts who pronounced the recipients to be legit. I also know that the solicitation and review were done properly, led by Program staff.
All of this was bigfooted by Trump spewing out nonsense about Tylenol and splitting up the MMR vaccine into components. For long-time listeners, it sounded like a Sarah Cooper skit from 2020. The single-component vaccines do not exist. Meanwhile, the three physicians just stood there. None of them will have the courage of a Fauci to set the record straight.
On an iPad, getting ready for work, so no links, just MHO. Oh, and some of the NIH Contracting staff that had lost their jobs in the 7/14 RIFs were rehired by HHS. Some good news. Meanwhile, the internal resistance continues.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@David_C: I saw a headline yesterday that they’re offering folks who were RIFed from GSA their jobs back too. It’s almost like they’re starting to realize they can’t do anything without staff. These dudes make the common clay of the new West look like geniuses.
I live in Maryland and I read on the State Government website that the Covid vaccine is available for all ages so I should go in and get my shot sometime this week.
Weird thing about autism is one of the most beloved TV characters of all time – Sheldon Cooper – is obviously on the spectrum. So, like, I don’t know how effective it’ll be to portray autism as a fate worse than death in all cases. For a lot of these things the root cause is genetic so whether there’s any environmental component is by no means a certainty. I subscribe to the theory that there are more people diagnosed with autism because we’re better at diagnosing it not because it’s actually more common.
Matt McIrvin
@David_C:
The what now?
One thing RFK Jr.’s committee did do was dis-recommend the combined MMR-chicken pox vaccine for children under 4 in favor of separate MMR and chicken pox shots. Was this a garbled description of that, or something new?
David_C
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
It looks like they may work for HHS but be detailed to NIH. Supposedly, there will be some kind of consolidation at the NIH level, not the institute level. I think they are trying to recover from a DOGE move that wasn’t thought out. Just fire people to claim to be cutting the size of the federal government,
There was a lot more chaos over contract terminations and other mandated cuts, and the remaining COs (Contracting Officer) and CORs (Contracting Officer’s Representative) had a ton of work, like extra justification memos, to do to keep things going.
David_C
@Matt McIrvin: That was all Trump, at the Monday press conference, who went way beyond the anti-vaccine rhetoric of even Junior. Threw in a Sir story, to boot.
Baud
Moved
Matt McIrvin
@David_C: It was interesting how far the committee backed off of their usual rhetoric when making formal recommendations. It’s kind of like the way the administration will publicly rant and rail about how the immigrants they’re holding in extrajudicial detention are all terrorists, rapists and murderers and then somehow fail to make those claims in court.
David_C
@Matt McIrvin: True, but sometimes the damage is just casting doubt.
David_C
Angie Rasmussen is a good read on this.
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/the-poison-pill-to-end-the-mmr-is
Shalimar
@Matt McIrvin: Currently listening to the part of Trump’s UN speech where he talks about how much potential the UN has but they’re wasting it by issuing strongly worded statements with no actions. He was referring to immigration but doesn’t grasp that it also describes his Ukraine policy and why he has made no progress at all stopping Russia.
Ten Bears
Not a headline today but well-placed never-the-less, (I think😎)
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@David_C: Yes I’m aware of all that. I work for a federal agency. My unit lost 3 of 8 staff level people to the RIFs and we had to jump through hoops to keep our contract support and for some reason they wouldn’t let us the contractors on any high priority projects. But now they’re upping our contract support. So they know they effed up and don’t have the staff to implement priorities.
I just wish the re-hiring attempts were getting the same level of coverage as the RIFs because it makes them look like total incompetent morons. Reporters could be asking them uncomfortable questions about it but it’ll get no airtime because that’s how things go these days.
jonas
I’m increasingly confused by these Denis the Covid Guy posts that use wastewater data to extrapolate infections, deaths, etc. They seem *way* off to me. CDC data is showing around 100-200 confirmed Covid deaths a week over the summer, even as these wastewater number supposedly peaked. Even if you think that’s a major undercount for some reason (they use death certificates where Covid is listed as the primary cause of death) there’s no way 1-3k a week are still dying of Covid. I think whatever algorithm he uses to calculate infection and mortality rates needs some serious readjusting.
jonas
@Shalimar: The UN *is* pretty ineffectual, but mostly because either the US, China, or Russia veto everything it tries to do because they think it disadvantages them politically. Also the major donor countries don’t nearly fund it at levels needed for it to be effective at much of anything.
When Trump says the UN is ineffective, he just means, like with most other things, that it doesn’t automatically follow his dictatorial whims.
jonas
deleted
David_C
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Excellent points. I’ll ask around and see what some of my more connected colleagues think.
Chetan Murthy
Anne, thank you for these roundups! They are my main (ok, ok, -only-) source for reliable information on all the plagues going around!
I continue to mask, and can only suggest that even if people don’t mask, they at least keep a small stock of N95 or P100 masks. For P100, that would be one mask, since it seems they’re much more durable and longer-lasting. I have this one: amazon.com/dp/B013SIIBME and I wear it until ….. well forever basically. Eventually the straps stretch/stretch/stretch, but a visit to a fabric store gets you (haha!) elastic straps that you can replace ’em with, and you can buy replacement filters. But it lasts basically forever, and it’s very comfortable (b/c around-the-head strap, not behind-the-ear).
I’m flying on Saturday (first time in 18yr, gah!) and for sure I’m wearin’ my P100 respirator on that flight!
Still haven’t gotten covid, thanks to President Biden, Dr. Kariko, the doctors who invented the BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the many, many doctors and scientists and chemical engineers who perfected and tested and manufactured the COVID vaccines, and the nurses and pharmacists who administered the shots.