U.S. Troops No Longer Required to Take Annual Flu Shot
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Apr. 21, 2026 that, effective immediately, military service members are no longer required to receive the annual flu vaccine. The update was shared in an Apr. 20 memorandum stating that the flu vaccine is now “voluntary for all active and reserve component service members, as well as […]
CDC Considers New Medical Code to Classify Vaccine Injuries
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is considering a proposal to formally recognize injuries associated with COVID-19 vaccinations as a diagnosable condition that can be recorded in medical records.1 The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), a standardized system used to classify diagnoses, symptoms, and procedures, could be updated under the proposal. Introduced […]
Canadian Government Overhauls Vaccine Injury Program
On Apr. 1, 2026, the Government of Canada assumed direct control of Canada’s vaccine injury compensation system, introducing changes aimed at improving how claims are processed and how support is delivered to vaccine injured individuals.1 The move followed an audit ordered by Health Minister Marjorie Michel in response to concerns about how the previous program […]
U.S. Fertility Rates Near Historic Lows
Fertility rates in the United States are now among the lowest levels ever recorded, based on provisional data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this month. According to the CDC report, the general fertility rate declined to 53.1 births per 1,000 women ages 15-44, down 23 percent since 2007, […]
Patients Request Blood from Donors Who Have Not Received mRNA COVID-19 Shots
A growing number of patients are requesting blood transfusions from donors who have not gotten the COVID19 shot, according to a Mar. 28, 2026 report published in the journal Transfusion. In the report, researchers at Vanderbilt Medical Center Medical Center evaluated 15 cases over a period of two years between 2024 and 2025 in which […]
Pfizer, BioNTech End mRNA COVID-19 Biologic Trial Early
After failing to recruit enough eligible volunteers to generate enough data in the U.S. to meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) post-marketing evidence requirements, Pfizer, Inc. and BioNTech SE have halted a large clinical trial of their updated mRNA COVID-19 biologic. The study targeted healthy adults 50 to 64 years of age but fell […]