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Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
RFK Jr. says healthy pregnant women don't need COVID boosters. What the science says
You're pregnant, healthy and hearing mixed messages: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is not a scientist or doctor, says you don't need the COVID vaccine, but experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Protection still put you in a high-risk group of people who ought to receive boosters. The science is on the side of the shots. Pregnant women who contracted COVID-19 were more likely to become severely ill and to be hospitalized than non-pregnant women of the same age and demographics, especially early in the COVID pandemic. A meta-analysis of 435 studies found that pregnant and recently pregnant women who were infected with the virus that causes COVID were more likely to end up in intensive care units, be on invasive ventilation, and die than women who weren't pregnant but had a similar health profile. This was before COVID vaccines were available. Neil Silverman, a professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology and the director of the Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said he still sees more bad outcomes in pregnant patients who have COVID. The risk of severe COVID fluctuated as new variants arose and vaccinations became available, Silverman said, but the threat is still meaningful. "No matter what the politics say, the science is the science, and we know that, objectively, pregnant patients are at substantially increased risk of having complications," Silverman said. A request for comment regarding the scientific literature that supports COVID vaccination for pregnant women sent to HHS' public affairs office elicited an unsigned email unrelated to the question. The office did not respond when asked for an on-the-record comment. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist before joining the Trump administration, announced May 27 that COVID vaccines would be removed from the CDC's immunization schedule for healthy pregnant women and healthy children. His announcement, made in a video posted on the social media platform X, blindsided CDC officials and circumvented the agency's established, scientific processes for adding and removing shots from its recommended schedules, The Washington Post reported. There's still much unknown about how COVID affects a pregnant person. The physiological relationship between COVID infections and mothers and fetuses at different stages of a pregnancy is complex, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan. The increased risk to pregnant patients comes in part because pregnancy changes the immune system, Rasmussen said. "There is natural immune suppression so that the mother's body doesn't attack the developing fetus," Rasmussen said. "While the mother does still have a functioning immune system, it's not functioning at full capacity." Pregnant patients are more likely to get sick and have a harder time fighting off any infection as a result. In addition to changing how the immune system works, being pregnant also makes women five times as likely to have blood clots. That risk is increased if they contract COVID, said Sallie Permar, chair of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. The virus that causes COVID can affect the vascular endothelium - specialized cells that line blood vessels and help with blood flow, Rasmussen said. In a healthy person, the endothelium helps prevent blood clots by producing chemicals that tweak the vascular system to keep it running. In a person infected with the COVID virus, the balance is thrown off and the production of those molecules is disrupted, which research shows can lead to blood clots or other blood disorders. Permar said that those clots can be especially dangerous to both pregnant women and fetuses. Inflammation and blood clots in the placenta could be connected to an increased risk of stillbirth, especially from certain COVID variants, according to studies published in major medical journals as well as by the CDC. When the placenta is inflamed, it's harder for blood carrying oxygen and nutrients to get to the developing baby, said Mary Prahl, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine. "If anything is interrupting those functions - inflammation or clotting or differences in how the blood is flowing - that's really going to affect how the placenta is working and being able to allow the fetus to grow and develop appropriately," she said. It makes sense that we see the effects of COVID in the placenta, Silverman said. "The placenta is nothing more than a hyper-specialized collection of blood vessels, so it is like a magnetic target for the virus." Blood vessels in the placenta are smaller and may clot more easily than in the mother's circulatory system, he said. Permar said recent data suggests that pregnant women sick with COVID still have a higher risk of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, preterm birth, and miscarriage, even with existing immunity from previous infection or vaccination. COVID, she said, can still land women in the hospital with pregnancy complications. Prahl said the connection between stillbirth and COVID may be changing given the immunity many people have developed from vaccination or prior infection. It's an area in which she'd like to see more research. There's already strong evidence that both mRNA-based and non-mRNA COVID vaccines are safe for pregnant women. Prahl co-authored a small, early study that found no adverse outcomes and showed antibody protection persisted for both the mother and the baby after birth. "What we learned very quickly is that pregnant individuals want answers and many of them want to be involved in research," she said. Later studies, including one published in the journal Nature Medicine showing that getting a booster in pregnancy cut newborn hospitalizations in the first four months of life, backed up her team's findings. Prahl expects more evidence will be available soon to support the benefits of mothers receiving a COVID booster during pregnancy. "I can say, kind of behind the scenes, I'm seeing a lot of this preliminary data," she said. She blames the delay in part on the Biden administration's scaling back of federal efforts to track COVID. "A lot of the surveillance of these data were pulled back," she said. The Trump administration is further cutting money used to track COVID. But because the vaccines give a pregnant woman's immune system a boost by increasing neutralizing antibodies, virologist Rasmussen is confident that getting one while pregnant makes it less likely a pregnant woman will end up in the hospital if she gets COVID. "It will protect the pregnant person from more severe disease," she said. Getting a COVID vaccine while pregnant also helps protect newborns after birth. Pregnant women who get vaccinated pass that protection to their young babies, who can't get their own shots until they are at least 6 months old. According to data released by the CDC in 2024, nearly 90% of babies who had to be hospitalized with COVID had mothers who didn't get the vaccine while they were pregnant. As recently as April 2024, research showed that babies too young to be vaccinated had the highest COVID hospitalization rate of any age group except people 75 and older. The Trump administration's decision to remove the COVID vaccine from the list of shots it recommends for pregnant women means insurance companies might no longer cover it. Pregnant women who want to get it anyway may have to pay hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket. "I don't want to be that doctor who just says, 'Well, it's really important. You have to vaccinate yourself and your kids no matter what, even if you have to pay for it out-of-pocket,' because everyone has their own priorities and budgetary concerns, especially in the current economic climate," Silverman said. "I can't tell a family that the vaccine is more important than feeding their kids." But he and his colleagues will keep advising pregnant women to try to get the shots anyway. "Newborns will be completely naive to COVID exposure," he said. "Vaccinating pregnant women to protect their newborns is still a valid reason to continue this effort." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. says healthy pregnant women don't need COVID boosters. What the science says.
Getty Images You're pregnant, healthy and hearing mixed messages: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is not a scientist or doctor, says you don't need the COVID vaccine, but experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Protection still put you in a high-risk group of people who ought to receive boosters. The science is on the side of the shots. Pregnant women who contracted COVID-19 were more likely to become severely ill and to be hospitalized than non-pregnant women of the same age and demographics, especially early in the pandemic. A meta-analysis of 435 studies found that pregnant and recently pregnant women who were infected with the virus that causes covid were more likely to end up in intensive care units, be on invasive ventilation, and die than women who weren't pregnant but had a similar health profile. This was before covid vaccines were available. Neil Silverman, a professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology and the director of the Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said he still sees more bad outcomes in pregnant patients who have covid. The risk of severe covid fluctuated as new variants arose and vaccinations became available, Silverman said, but the threat is still meaningful. 'No matter what the politics say, the science is the science, and we know that, objectively, pregnant patients are at substantially increased risk of having complications,' Silverman said. A request for comment regarding the scientific literature that supports covid vaccination for pregnant women sent to HHS' public affairs office elicited an unsigned email unrelated to the question. The office did not respond when asked for an on-the-record comment. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist before joining the Trump administration, announced May 27 that covid vaccines would be removed from the CDC's immunization schedule for healthy pregnant women and healthy children. His announcement, made in a video posted on the social media platform X, blindsided CDC officials and circumvented the agency's established, scientific processes for adding and removing shots from its recommended schedules, The Washington Post reported. There's still much unknown about how covid affects a pregnant person. The physiological relationship between covid infections and mothers and fetuses at different stages of a pregnancy is complex, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The increased risk to pregnant patients comes in part because pregnancy changes the immune system, Rasmussen said. 'There is natural immune suppression so that the mother's body doesn't attack the developing fetus,' Rasmussen said. 'While the mother does still have a functioning immune system, it's not functioning at full capacity.' Pregnant patients are more likely to get sick and have a harder time fighting off any infection as a result. In addition to changing how the immune system works, being pregnant also makes women five times as likely to have blood clots. That risk is increased if they contract covid, said Sallie Permar, chair of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. The virus that causes covid can affect the vascular endothelium — specialized cells that line blood vessels and help with blood flow, Rasmussen said. In a healthy person, the endothelium helps prevent blood clots by producing chemicals that tweak the vascular system to keep it running. In a person infected with the covid virus, the balance is thrown off and the production of those molecules is disrupted, which research shows can lead to blood clots or other blood disorders. Permar said that those clots can be especially dangerous to both pregnant women and fetuses. Inflammation and blood clots in the placenta could be connected to an increased risk of stillbirth, especially from certain covid variants, according to studies published in major medical journals as well as by the CDC. When the placenta is inflamed, it's harder for blood carrying oxygen and nutrients to get to the developing baby, said Mary Prahl, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine. 'If anything is interrupting those functions — inflammation or clotting or differences in how the blood is flowing — that's really going to affect how the placenta is working and being able to allow the fetus to grow and develop appropriately,' she said. It makes sense that we see the effects of covid in the placenta, Silverman said. 'The placenta is nothing more than a hyper-specialized collection of blood vessels, so it is like a magnetic target for the virus.' Blood vessels in the placenta are smaller and may clot more easily than in the mother's circulatory system, he said. Louisiana senators trim private education vouchers, expand Medicaid budget Permar said recent data suggests that pregnant women sick with covid still have a higher risk of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, preterm birth, and miscarriage, even with existing immunity from previous infection or vaccination. Covid, she said, can still land women in the hospital with pregnancy complications. Prahl said the connection between stillbirth and covid may be changing given the immunity many people have developed from vaccination or prior infection. It's an area in which she'd like to see more research. There's already strong evidence that both mRNA-based and non-mRNA covid vaccines are safe for pregnant women. Prahl co-authored a small, early study that found no adverse outcomes and showed antibody protection persisted for both the mother and the baby after birth. 'What we learned very quickly is that pregnant individuals want answers and many of them want to be involved in research,' she said. Later studies, including one published in the journal Nature Medicine showing that getting a booster in pregnancy cut newborn hospitalizations in the first four months of life, backed up her team's findings. Prahl expects more evidence will be available soon to support the benefits of mothers receiving a covid booster during pregnancy. 'I can say, kind of behind the scenes, I'm seeing a lot of this preliminary data,' she said. She blames the delay in part on the Biden administration's scaling back of federal efforts to track covid. 'A lot of the surveillance of these data were pulled back,' she said. The Trump administration is further cutting money used to track covid. But because the vaccines give a pregnant woman's immune system a boost by increasing neutralizing antibodies, virologist Rasmussen is confident that getting one while pregnant makes it less likely a pregnant woman will end up in the hospital if she gets covid. 'It will protect the pregnant person from more severe disease,' she said. Getting a covid vaccine while pregnant also helps protect newborns after birth. Pregnant women who get vaccinated pass that protection to their young babies, who can't get their own shots until they are at least 6 months old. According to data released by the CDC in 2024, nearly 90% of babies who had to be hospitalized with covid had mothers who didn't get the vaccine while they were pregnant. As recently as April 2024, research showed that babies too young to be vaccinated had the highest covid hospitalization rate of any age group except people 75 and older. The Trump administration's decision to remove the covid vaccine from the list of shots it recommends for pregnant women means insurance companies might no longer cover it. Pregnant women who want to get it anyway may have to pay hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket. 'I don't want to be that doctor who just says, 'Well, it's really important. You have to vaccinate yourself and your kids no matter what, even if you have to pay for it out-of-pocket,' because everyone has their own priorities and budgetary concerns, especially in the current economic climate,' Silverman said. 'I can't tell a family that the vaccine is more important than feeding their kids.' But he and his colleagues will keep advising pregnant women to try to get the shots anyway. 'Newborns will be completely naive to covid exposure,' he said. 'Vaccinating pregnant women to protect their newborns is still a valid reason to continue this effort.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF and subscribe to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
People Who Heard These 9 Phrases Growing up Were Likely Raised by Self-Centered Parents
People Who Heard These 9 Phrases Growing up Were Likely Raised by Self-Centered Parents originally appeared on Parade. Growing up, "Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never hurt me" was a common phrase to get over bullying and help brush off mean things kids were saying. However, words you hear from can stay with you for a lifetime."When we're young, our brains are still developing, and we are easily impressionable, so we naturally trust the adults around us to help shape our sense of self," explains , the author of Silver Linings: From Surviving to Thriving After 9/11 and the founder of Silver Linings Mental Health in Colorado. "That is why the way we are spoken to can have a big impact on our self-esteem, how we handle stress and how we connect with others."If your parents were self-centered, you may have heard phrases that were hurtful, dismissive or manipulative on repeat. And those remarks can continue to play in our heads today. Need a mute button? Silverman shares that finding one involves healing, which requires awareness of how your childhood affects you now, as an adult."[Awareness] gives us the power to heal and grow beyond them," she wants to raise awareness, so she defines what it means when a parent is self-centered. She also shares nine common you probably heard if you had a self-centered parent and how to heal from Since words like "toxic" and "narcissist" are thrown around and sometimes misused on social media, Silverman says it's important to define the true meaning of self-centered parenting. "Self-centered parents are more concerned about their own feelings and needs than about their child's emotional world," she explains. "They might lack emotional awareness, insight or have their own unresolved childhood pain that prevents them from seeing the inner world of their child."It sounds awful—and it can be. However, what's tricky is that sometimes self-centered parents don't even mean to cause harm to a child."It is usually not intentional or malicious, but their behavior can still impact their kids, leaving them feeling unseen, unheard or emotionally dismissed," she Silverman says self-centered parents often resort to this tactic when a child attempts to establish a valid boundary. For instance, it's perfectly reasonable for a teen to ask a parent not to berate them for bringing home a B+."Rather than honoring the child's experience, the parent frames it as entitlement, placing blame on the child instead of reflecting on their own reaction," she explains. This remark's also-toxic cousins include "Stop being such a baby" and "Toughen up." Silverman says phrases that chastise a child for being weak "shut down emotional expression" and can make a child feel like there's something wrong with them for having natural or sensitive reactions."It's dismissive and can prevent healthy emotional development," she explains. Self-centered parents use this phrase to minimize a child's feelings, especially sadness or anger."It puts the parents' discomfort above the child's emotional needs and teaches kids to doubt their own feelings," Silverman Um, yikes? "'Weird' [is used] to shame children for being different, whether emotionally expressive, creative or neurodivergent," Silverman reports. "It typically stems from the parents' concern with appearances or social norms rather than the child's individuality."Related: This one may seem ironic in retrospect as you unpack the long-term effects of a childhood with a self-centered parent. Nevertheless, they still say it."This phrase is frequently directed at children who are learning to set boundaries or speak up for themselves," Silverman says. "Instead of being celebrated, these healthy behaviors are framed as disloyal or hurtful. This can impact the child's assertiveness and sense of setting necessary boundaries."For instance, a child may request that their parent refrain from barking out advice from the sidelines during their soccer game (when the parent is not even coaching). The child isn't acting "selfish" or ungrateful—their feelings are valid (and probably shared with others on the team and sidelines). Silverman says this phrase is a "catch-all" when parents want to silence kids who are questioning, disagreeing or advocating for themselves."It shuts down communication and demands obedience rather than mutual understanding," she says. This one is a close relative of "Just relax," a phrase with a 0% success rate."This can minimize a child's emotions and cause them to second-guess their own perceptions," Silverman says. "It often reflects a parent's discomfort with accountability more than the child's actual behavior." Kids may also hear their self-centered parents describe them this way to teachers, friends or other family members."It suggests a character flaw rather than considering deeper causes like burnout, lack of support or neurodivergence," Silverman warns. "Kids don't thrive on criticism. They need structure, encouragement and understanding." Just reading the phrase may trigger you and bring back unhappy memories if you had a self-centered caregiver."This phrase teaches children to suppress emotions rather than process them," Silverman says. "Over time, this can create anxiety and confusion around emotional expression and trust."Related: Self-centered parents can take up a ton of oxygen and real estate in your head. An objective third party, like a trained therapist, can help you work through the long-term effects of your childhood in a judgment-free setting. You can also develop tools and skills to break generational cycles."Therapy can be a healing space to unravel childhood experiences and how they may still be impacting your adult life," Silverman says. "If you're thinking about starting a family or want to heal your inner child, working with a therapist can offer insight, healing and strategies for change." Silverman says several books and insightful articles can help you feel validated. Some of her favorites are Dr. Susan Forward's Toxic Parents and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score."These books can help you identify what you've been through and guide you toward healing," she says. "It can also offer insight and help you understand your experience further." Silverman shares that healing won't happen overnight. Patience and persistence are needed, but it's possible to move forward—and be even stronger than you were before."Keep building emotional awareness and break the cycle," Silverman says. "You can alter the narrative. Developing emotional intelligence, seeking out supportive relationships and committing to self-reflection can help you grow into the person and possibly the parent you want to be."Up Next:Samantha Silverman, LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker), author of Silver Linings: From Surviving to Thriving After 9/11 and founder of Silver Linings Mental Health in Colorado People Who Heard These 9 Phrases Growing up Were Likely Raised by Self-Centered Parents first appeared on Parade on Jun 1, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
The Star
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Sarah Silverman reveals grandfather may have killed her infant brother
Sarah Silverman has opened up on a dark family secret. Photo: TNS Sarah Silverman has opened up on a dark family secret, revealing for the first time what her father told her about the death of her brother when he was three months old. In a new interview for Rolling Stone , the 54-year-old comedian said that for years she and her sisters thought baby Jeffrey died as the result of a crib accident. But in 2022, her father finally told her that he believed his own dad killed him after shaking him in a violent rage. The tragic incident occurred before she was born, when Jeffrey was being babysat while Silverman's parents were on vacation. 'The story was that something happened with the crib, and Jeffrey's little body slid and he got suffocated. But if you look back, there was never a lawsuit with the crib company or anything,' she told Rolling Stone. Silverman said her father delivered the shocking revelation after watching her perform in the off-Broadway musical adaptation of her memoir, The Bedwetter , which included a joke about the infant's death. 'My dad says, 'I always felt that he was crying or something, and my dad shook him,'' she recalled. ''He shook him in a rage and killed him.'' 'As soon as he said it, it was like, 'Of course, that's what happened,'' she continued. 'His mother always stood by her husband. She watched him beat the s— out of her son. I couldn't ask my mum, because she was dead.' Silverman's mother, Beth, died in 2015, while her father – who she called her 'best pal' – died in 2023. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Etsy's CEO shares two key steps he took early in his career that set him up for later success
As Gen Z grads struggle with an uncertain job market, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman shares how he just threw himself into any job early on in his career—not knowing if he would stick with it forever—to get the ball rolling. Once he was in it, he soaked up as many lessons as possible, and took on work no one else wanted. It's the same type of grit Mark Cuban and Steve Jobs embraced to achieve success. The class of 2025 is stepping into an uncertain job market, unsure of where to start on the winding path to success. Etsy CEO Josh Silverman told the next cohort of workers that two steps he made in his early career set him up for triumph down the line: picking something he enjoyed, and going above and beyond in his junior-level role. 'For me, the most important thing has always been to start by throwing myself in with zealous passion to something that I liked enough and I was good enough at,' Silverman told Pace University graduates during his commencement speech on May 19. Like many others navigating their careers in their 20's, the $8 billion handcraft goods executive didn't know exactly what he wanted in college. Silverman hopped industries and jobs throughout his career, but having the determination to get the ball rolling was essential to figuring it out. He noted that delving into the work, and soaking up all the knowledge he could, also opened new doors that led him to executive success. And it's a career journey many people can relate with, especially given how chaotic and uncertain life feels in one's early 20s. 'Life shouldn't be full of adventure—it should be an adventure, and don't let that scare you. Embrace it,' Silverman said. Silverman first enrolled as a theater student at Brown University in the 1980s, but recounted not being able to score any opportunities as a young undergrad. So he switched his concentration to public policy, knowing he enjoyed it and had the skills to make it into a career. 'Was I convinced that I wanted to spend the rest of my life as a health care policy analyst? Maybe,' Silverman said during the speech. 'But I knew it was a way to get started and the best way to figure it out was to throw myself into it wholeheartedly.' That was the Etsy CEO's first learning lesson—pick an interesting job where you have relevant skills, and go all-in. The next came shortly after; upon graduating from Brown University, Silverman got his first job answering phone calls for U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. He went above and beyond his regular responsibilities, picking up other duties no one else wanted and bonding with his co-workers. '[I] was an absolute sponge in meetings. [I hung] out by the water cooler, determined not to miss the most interesting conversations,' Silverrman said. 'Then life opened a totally unexpected door.' Silverman's diligence and enthusiasm paid off; three years later, he was invited to join a consulting practice launched by Bradley's chief of staff. This was his first foray into private business, which feels far away from his later years spent co-founding Evite, becoming CEO of Skype, leading consumer products at American Express, and rising to chief executive of Etsy in 2017. Without his early career choices, Silverman may not have the stellar resume he holds today. There are many entrepreneurs and business leaders who drive home the importance of being scrappy when they're young. Like Silverman, Shark Tank mogul Mark Cuban is a huge proponent of 'sweat equity'—working hard will help drive you to the finish line, even if it means picking up more responsibilities outside of your nine-to-five. 'Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to take it all away from you,' Cuban said. The late Apple legend, co-founder, and CEO Steve Jobs echoed the same sentiment. Jobs was just 21 years old when he launched the $3.2 trillion technology business with his partner, Steve Woznaik. As a college dropout, Jobs threw himself into the industry working at video game company Atari before becoming an entrepreneur. Even at the age of 13 he knew his calling, working as a computer technician at Hewlett-Packard. Those early years were a total grind—but set Jobs to be a pioneer in his space. 'I'm convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance,' Jobs once said. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
