Pneumococcal Vaccines Ineffective at Reducing Hospitalizations and Deaths
Despite decades of public health campaigns promoting pneumococcal vaccination to prevent pneumonia and related deaths, new real-world evidence suggests the shots may not be delivering the expected benefits. A 2025 population-based cohort study of more than 2.2 million adults in Catalonia, Spain, published Oct. 21, 2025 in BMC Infectious Diseases, found that recipients of pneumococcal […]
FDA May Investigate DNA Contamination in COVID Shots
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering investigating potential DNA contamination in mRNA COVID-19 shots. Tracy Beth Hoeg, MD, senior adviser to FDA commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, confirmed that the investigation is “something that’s being discussed.”1 Retsef Levi, PhD, chair of the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 immunization workgroup, […]
Higher Cancer Rates Found After Receipt of COVID-19 Shots
A new, peer-reviewed study by researchers in South Korea has found that people who received COVID-19 shots showed significantly higher rates of developing several cancers—including thyroid, stomach, colon, lung, breast, and prostate—compared to unvaccinated individuals. The research, published on Sept. 26, 2025 in the journal Biomarker Research, was authored by South Korean medics in orthopedic […]
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 […]
Autism Symptoms Could Be Added to U.S. Vaccine Injury Program
On July 28, 2025, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said he planned to overhaul the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP. In September, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced it may add certain symptoms of autism to the official list of vaccine side effects eligible for […]
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 […]