Flu Vaccine Effectiveness Pegged at About 50 Percent
Each year, the influenza vaccine is promoted across the country—recommended by public health authorities, advertised widely, and often required by medical workplaces, schools, and childcare centers. Yet, the vaccine’s effectiveness remains uncertain, as it is formulated months in advance based on predictions of which influenza virus strains will predominately circulate. This season, the flu shot’s […]
FDA Questions Safety of Giving Multiple Vaccines at Once
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is re-evaluating the long-standing federal vaccine use policy that allows multiple vaccines to be given during the same visit—particularly COVID-19, influenza and RSV shots. In a memo last month, Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), wrote that the agency […]
Disturbing Secrets about Vaccines
The vaccine area is much more complicated than I knew when I worked at a department of infectious diseases as a young doctor. I didn’t perceive vaccines could be a problem and had taken all the recommended ones. My 2013 book, Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime, hardly mentions vaccines at all because none of the major […]
Nine States Unite in Northeast to Challenge CDC’s New Vaccine Use Recommendations
In response to recent changes made to vaccine use recommendations issued by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nine northeastern states and New York City have formally established the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a regional partnership they say is intended to improve coordination of […]
CDC’s ACIP: The Next Generation
On Sept. 15, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced the appointment of five additional members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The new members—Catherine Stein, PhD; Evelyn Griffin, MD; Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA; Kirk Milhoan; MD, PhD; and Raymond Pollak, MD—bring […]
FDA Suspends Chikungunya Vaccine Over Safety Concerns
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Aug. 22, 2025 that it has suspended the license for French drugmaker Valneva’s chikungunya vaccine, warning that its continued use “poses a danger to public health” following a risk–benefit analysis conducted by the agency’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). The decision came after reports […]