Latest news with #JayBhattacharya
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark's quads, Trump-Musk bromance and 'Duck Dynasty': Your week in review
COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, joining Kennedy for the announcement posted in a video on X, called the change 'common sense and good science." Traditionally, immunization guidance is voted on by a CDC advisory committee; then the CDC director makes the final call. The CDC panel has not voted on Kennedy's change. COVID-19 protocols: Changes are happening. Here's what to know Could there be some cooling in the Trump-Musk bromance? The president's crusade to pass his "big, beautiful" tax and spending bill through Congress took some flak from his former right-hand man, who said he was "disappointed" with the cost of the bill and complained that it "undermines the work the DOGE team is doing." (Musk has also criticized Trump's tariffs.) Asked about Musk's remarks on the spending bill, Trump cited politics: "I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it. … It's got a way to go." At least one break is official, however: Musk's turbulent 130-day run as a "special government employee" is now over. It's the end of the line for free checked bags on Southwest. For the first time, the airline is now charging for the service: $35 for a first checked bag and $45 for a second bag (overweight and oversized baggage costs more). Tickets booked or changed on or before May 28 don't apply, and for some customers, new fare categories and membership perks will still earn them free checked bags. The new fees are the latest major change for Dallas-based Southwest, including a farewell to its open seating policy of more than 50 years. In a news release, the airline acknowledged that "preferences have evolved." Phil Robertson, the bushy-bearded and plainspoken patriarch of the colorful Louisiana family featured on A&E Network's 'Duck Dynasty," has died. He was 79 and had battled Alzheimer's disease and other health problems, his family said. His family-run hunting products business, Duck Commander, was the epicenter of "Duck Dynasty," which ran from 2012 to 2017 on the back of the clan's three core tenets: "faith, family and ducks.' The duck call will not go silent, however; a spinoff, "Duck Dynasty: The Revival," premieres June 1. Call it the Caitlin Clark effect − in reverse. The Indiana Fever's star guard is out for at least two weeks after she strained her left quad in a loss to the New York Liberty, which meant she would be sidelined for at least the next four games. The WNBA is feeling the pain, too: Ticket prices have plunged since news of Clark's injury. It's especially disappointing for the Fever's road game June 7 against the Chicago Sky − the latest Clark vs. Angel Reese clash − which had been moved to the 23,000-plus-seat United Center to meet demand for tickets. − Compiled by Robert Abitbol, USA TODAY copy chief This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caitlin Clark's quads, Trump-Musk and 'Duck Dynasty': Week in review
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Changes Guidance for This Common Vaccine
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines to healthy children and healthy pregnant women, the change being justified as 'common sense.' Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the announcement on X Tuesday in a video message with the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary. 'I couldn't be more pleased to announce that, as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule,' Kennedy said. He accused the Biden administration of urging healthy children to get 'yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.' 'That ends today. It's common sense and it's good science,' chirped Bhattacharya. 'There's no evidence healthy kids need it today, and most countries have stopped recommending it for children,' added Makary. 'We're now one step closer to realizing President Trump's promise to Make America Healthy Again,' Kennedy concluded. Both Kennedy and Makary teased this new development last week, Makary hinting that annual shots for healthy adults and children might not be regularly approved anymore, and Kennedy placing new restrictions on the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. This marks a drastic shift from the CDC's previous stance on the COVID vaccine, the agency saying two weeks prior to Trump's second inauguration that they recommend that 'everyone ages 6 months and older should get a 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine.' But Kennedy's announcement comes before the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has completed its deliberations on whether or not pregnant women should remain eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. The Committee was set to vote on the issue, among others, in June. Multiple studies have stated that pregnant women are at an increased risk from COVID, going against Kennedy's 'common sense' claim that they don't require vaccination. One study conducted by researchers at Brown University School of Public Health showed that maternal mortality spiked at the peak of COVID in 2021. Even Elon Musk's AI chatbot on X, Grok, couldn't believe its digital ears, writing that the trio's statement 'cited 'lack of clinical data' but provided no specific scientific papers.' 'A 2022 Lancet study supports vaccine safety in pregnancy, showing no adverse outcomes,' it wrote. 'Critics cite 2023 ACIP data indicating benefits across groups. Without direct HHS citations, the decision's basis remains unclear.' Leaving out healthy children and pregnant women from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule could also significantly alter existing insurance guidelines. The immunization schedule provides a guide for doctors and insurance coverage for Medicaid expansion programs and a majority of private insurance plans. All three men have been outspoken about their vaccine criticism, Makary previously claiming that the FDA and CDC 'lied to the American people' about the need for additional COVID measures such as booster shots. 'The greatest perpetrator of misinformation during the pandemic has been the United States government,' Makary said at a 2023 roundtable organized by Republicans. Last week, Bhattacharya said at a disastrous town hall with his NIH staff that it's 'possible that the NIH partly sponsored' research that he claims might have caused the COVID pandemic, prompting a walkout in protest by dozens of staffers.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
RFK Jr ends COVID vaccine recommendation: What do facts say about risks?
In a one-minute video, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr revoked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation that healthy children and healthy pregnant women be vaccinated for COVID-19, leaving some experts concerned and others unsure about the policy's details. Kennedy was joined in the video, posted on May 27 on X, by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya. Kennedy, who was tapped by President Donald Trump after a years-long embrace of vaccine conspiracy theories, did not make it clear whether he was referring to a recommendation for children or pregnant women getting vaccinated for the first time, for getting subsequent booster shots, or both. Days after the announcement, HHS's website provided no clarity, saying, 'COVID-19 vaccines are available to everyone 6 months and older. Getting vaccinated is the best way to help protect people from COVID-19.' A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage dated January 7 – before Kennedy was secretary – provided a similar broad vaccine endorsement. Some experts say the low rates of serious COVID-19 cases among children justify tightening the federal vaccine recommendation. Others say that the move will make it harder to get vaccinated and cause preventable serious illnesses. Kennedy broke from norms by not waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to vote on vaccine guidance at a scheduled June meeting. Recommending against vaccination for certain groups could make it harder for most children and pregnant women to get the shot, if insurers decide not to cover COVID-19 shots for those groups. Immunization rates are already low, with 13 percent of children and 14.4 percent of pregnant women up to date with the 2024-25 edition of the COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC found in late April. We fact-checked the three federal health officials' comments with health experts. Kennedy said, 'Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.' In recent years, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices – a group of outside experts that advises the CDC on who should be vaccinated and how often – has recommended annual boosters for healthy children who have already received COVID-19 vaccines. The committee made this recommendation without also recommending that every annual iteration of the vaccine undergo new rounds of clinical trials before being used, said Dr William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. (The vaccine had been approved by the FDA for safety and efficacy early in the pandemic.) The panel concluded that the coronavirus vaccine operated in the same way as the annual flu vaccine, which has not required repeated clinical trials, said Schaffner, a former committee member and current adviser. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians also recommended COVID-19 vaccinations for children and did not urge new clinical trials. Makary said, 'There's no evidence healthy kids need' the vaccine. This is disputed. Most children will not face serious illness from COVID-19, but a small fraction will. Experts draw different lines when deciding how widespread the vaccination programme needs to be, given this scale of risk. During the 2024-25 COVID-19 season, children and adolescents age 17 and younger comprised about 4 percent of COVID-19-associated hospitalisations. The relatively small number of serious cases among children has driven the belief among some scientists that the universal vaccination recommendation is too broad. However, among all children, rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalisations were highest among infants less than six months old. 'With 4 million new children born every year with no exposure to COVID, young children have rates of disease similar to the disease rates in people older than 65,' Schaffner said, citing a September 2024 article on the CDC's website. COVID-19 was among the top 10 causes of death in children during the worst of the pandemic between 2020 and 2022, said Tara C Smith, a Kent State University epidemiologist. 'Though we may no longer be at that stage … we vaccinate for influenza, so why not continue to do so for COVID?' Some doctors are concerned about the lingering syndrome known as long COVID, about which less is known, especially among children. The outside advisory committees and the medical academies found this level of serious disease to be sufficient to recommend continued annual vaccinations. Makary was accurate when he said that 'most countries have stopped recommending' routine COVID-19 vaccination for children. 'Many countries will only offer the COVID vaccine to children if they have underlying health conditions or are immunocompromised,' said Brooke Nichols, a Boston University associate professor of global health. Makary co-wrote a May 20 article that included a list of booster recommendations in Canada, Europe and Australia. It said in most countries, the recommendation was to vaccinate older people or those at high risk. Most countries have taken this course, Schaffner said, because 'by now, 95 percent of us have had experience with COVID, either through the vaccine or through illness or both. And second, the current variants are thought to be much milder than some of the earlier variants.' The World Health Organization in 2024 recommended the COVID-19 vaccine for children with health risks who had never been vaccinated. For children and adolescents who had previously been vaccinated, it did not routinely recommend revaccination. The European Medicines Agency recommended the BioNtech Pfizer vaccine for children over the age of five years and said the use of the vaccine for children is effective and safe. Euronews reported that the agency issued its recommendation in November 2021 and later recommended the Moderna vaccine for children ages 12 to 17. In the United Kingdom, 'only older people or those with specific diseases or illnesses making them susceptible to severe COVID were recommended to get boosters, and as a result, uptake in those groups was actually higher than in the US,' where outreach and advertising for the vaccinations focused on children as well as older people, said Babak Javid, an associate professor in the division of experimental medicine at the University of California-San Francisco. The New York Times found that in Europe 'many countries do not recommend the vaccines for healthy children under 5, but the shots are approved for everyone 6 months and older,' meaning that they can be safely used by anyone who's at least six months old. Experts disagreed with Kennedy's recommendation against vaccinating pregnant women, saying the vaccine protects pregnant women and their infants. Steven J Fleischman, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists president, said, 'It is very clear that COVID-19 infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability, and it can cause devastating consequences for families. In fact, growing evidence shows just how much vaccination during pregnancy protects the infant after birth, with the vast majority of hospitalised infants less than six months of age – those who are not yet eligible for vaccination – born to unvaccinated mothers.' After a vaccination, antibodies reach the fetus. The doctors' group said there is no evidence the vaccine creates adverse effects for either mother or the fetus, although fever or pain at the injection site are possible. The federal government in May provided conflicting information about the vaccine and pregnancy. In Makary's May 20 article, he and his co-author included pregnancy on the CDC's 2025 list of underlying medical conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19. 'They literally contradicted themselves over the course of a couple of days,' said Dr Peter Hotez, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development co-director. 'It appears RFK Jr reversed his own FDA's decision.' Following the May 27 video announcement, Makary told NBC that the decision about vaccination should be between a pregnant woman and her doctor. A 2024 review of 67 studies found that fully vaccinated pregnant women had a 61 percent lower likelihood of a COVID-19 infection during pregnancy. In its June meeting, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices might move towards less sweeping recommendations for vaccinating children, closer to those that Kennedy enacted. 'If you listened to the discussions in the most recent previous meeting, they very much seemed to be moving in a more targeted approach,' Schaffner said. The question of pregnant women may be one where the advisory committees may recommend more flexibility with vaccine usage than what Kennedy's video statement seems to suggest, Schaffner said. Other areas where the panels could back greater flexibility could be for otherwise healthy people who serve as caregivers or who live with more vulnerable people who are advanced in age or are immunocompromised.
CNET
5 days ago
- General
- CNET
CDC Reverses Course on COVID Vaccines for Pregnant Women and Children. Here's What to Know
What's happening The CDC is no longer advising COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women and healthy children. Why it matters The change reverses previous federal guidance, shifting focus to high-risk groups. In a shift to federal public health guidance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer encourage COVID-19 vaccinations for pregnant women and healthy children. The pivot, shared by Kennedy in a 58-second video posted to X, formerly Twitter, marks a significant departure from the CDC's stance just two weeks ago, when it reiterated the importance of high-risk groups, which included expecting mothers. "I couldn't be more pleased to announce that as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule," Kennedy said, flanked by Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. The trio framed the decision as a return to evidence-based policymaking. Makary said "no evidence" supports healthy children benefit from routine COVID vaccination, while Bhattacharya called the update "common sense and good science." The update comes just after a similar policy announcement from the Trump administration, which last week stated it would no longer recommend annual COVID shots for younger adults and children. Instead, older adults (65 and up), and anyone over six months with underlying conditions like diabetes, obesity, chronic respiratory diseases or cancer will be prioritized in vaccination efforts. Meanwhile, pregnant women appear to have been reclassified under the new CDC guidance and are no longer encouraged to get COVID-19 vaccines. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet on June 25 to finalize COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for this fall. What does this new COVID-19 vaccine guidance mean for families? The new CDC guidance may leave parents or expecting mothers wondering how to move forward. While the change reflects a broader approach based on individual risk assessment, it also places more responsibility on families to navigate complex medical decisions without the same level of clear federal direction. The new guidelines remove COVID vaccination from the standard immunization schedule for families with healthy children. Children with underlying conditions such as diabetes, asthma or a compromised immune system are still advised to receive vaccines. The guidance is more unclear for pregnant women. This change reopens the debate about whether vaccination during pregnancy remains a protective measure or an unnecessary risk. What should you do now? Here are a few tips for navigating the latest vaccine guidance changes and making the most informed decisions for yourself and your family. Talk to your doctor Any medical decisions, especially during pregnancy and for young children, should be consulted with your primary care provider or OB-GYN. They can help you determine individual needs and risks. Assess your risk factors The new COVID-19 vaccination guidelines still recommend shots for people over 65 and those with health conditions like cancer, obesity, diabetes or chronic respiratory illnesses. If you or your child falls into one of these groups, vaccination may still be advised. Stay informed As federal health guidance evolves, it's important to monitor updates from reputable and trusted medical sources, including your state health department and professional medical associations.
Medscape
5 days ago
- Business
- Medscape
US Drops COVID Vaccine Recommendation for Healthy Kids, Pregnant Women
(Reuters) -The U.S. has stopped recommending routine COVID-19 vaccinations for pregnant women and healthy children, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced in a social media post on Tuesday, circumventing the CDC's traditional recommendation process. Kennedy, FDA commissioner Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya said in a video that the shots have been removed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended immunization schedule. The changes come a week after they unveiled tighter requirements for COVID shots, effectively limiting them to older adults and those at risk of developing severe illness. Traditionally, the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices would meet and vote on changes to the immunization schedule or recommendations on who should get vaccines before the director of the CDC made a final call. The committee has not voted on these changes. Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic whose department oversees the CDC, has been remaking the U.S. health system to align with President Donald Trump's goal of dramatically shrinking the federal government. "Last year, the Biden Administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot despite the lack of clinical data to support repeat booster strategy in children," Kennedy said in the video. The CDC, following its panel of outside experts, previously recommended updated COVID vaccines for everyone aged six months and older. Insurers said they are reviewing the regulatory guidance to determine their policies, which typically follow the ACIP recommendations. A spokesperson for CVS Health said the company is determining whether changes in health insurance coverage are required as the federal government reassesses COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, while a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association spokesperson said preventative health benefits, including COVID vaccines, are essential in keeping patients healthy. 'TURNED UPSIDE DOWN' "The recommendation is coming down from the secretary, so the process has just been turned upside down," said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a consultant to the ACIP. Schaffner said the CDC's panel was to vote on these issues at a June meeting, where he had expected them to favor more targeted shots instead of a universal vaccine recommendation. "But this seems to be a bit preemptory," he said. Dorit Reiss, professor of law at UC Law San Francisco, said in a Facebook post that going around the advisory committee might hurt the agency in the case of potential litigation. Studies with hundreds of thousands of people around the world show that COVID-19 vaccination before and during pregnancy is safe, effective, and beneficial to both the pregnant woman and the baby, according to the CDC's website. But Makary said in the video that there was no evidence that healthy children need routine COVID shots. Most countries have stopped recommending it for children, he added. COVID vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer did not respond to requests for comment. Dr. Cody Meissner, professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth who co-wrote an editorial with Makary during the COVID pandemic against masks for children, said he agreed with the decision. He said he felt the U.S. had been overemphasizing the importance of the COVID vaccine for young children and pregnant women, and that previous recommendations were based on politics, adding that the severity of the illness generated by the virus seems to have lessened over time in young children. (Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Maju Samuel and Bill Berkrot)
