Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Vaccine Databases, Crucial For Managing Outbreaks, Are Out Of Date
NBC News: Many CDC Databases Are Not Being Updated, Most Related To Vaccines, Study Finds
Nearly half of the databases that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used to update regularly — surveillance systems that tracked public health information like Covid vaccination rates and hospitalizations for respiratory syncytial virus — have been paused without explanation, according to new research. The findings, published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, indicate that at the start of 2025, the CDC maintained 82 databases that were updated at least monthly. But by the end of October, the study found, 38 had gone stale, with 34 showing no new entries at all in the previous six months. (Bendix, 1/26)
In related news about vaccine skepticism and MAHA —
News Service of Florida: Florida Senate Committee Backs Bill With Expanded Vaccine Exemptions
A Senate committee Monday narrowly approved a bill that would create a new path for parents who don’t want their schoolchildren vaccinated, with the proposal’s sponsor saying parents should be in the “driver’s seat” — but opponents warning of public health consequences. (Saunders, 1/27)
KFF Health News: Trump Policies At Odds With Emerging Understanding Of Covid’s Long-Term Harm
Possible risk of autism in children. Dormant cancer cells awakening. Accelerating aging of the brain. Federal officials in May 2023 declared an end to the national covid pandemic. But more than two years later, a growing body of research continues to reveal information about the virus and its ability to cause harm long after initial infections resolve, even in some cases when symptoms were mild. (Armour, 1/27)
Politico: Republicans Think RFK Jr. Can Help Them In The Midterms. Democrats Worry That’s True.
Republicans have embraced HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s healthy food crusade, hoping it will boost their prospects in the midterms. Some Democrats fear it might work. The health secretary was in Pennsylvania last week, touting a new campaign to “take back” Americans’ health. It was the first of what is expected to be many stops ahead of the midterms where the secretary, a former presidential candidate with a constituency all his own, will tout the administration’s efforts to keep Americans, especially children, healthy. (Haslett and Doherty, 1/27)
MedPage Today: Cardiologists Send RFK Jr. A Wish List On 'Long Overdue' USPSTF Overhaul
Prominent cardiology leaders wrote a letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding a "forward-looking" U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) roster that will be willing to adopt the latest science on cardiovascular prevention. The nonprofit Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication (SHAPE) coalition of physicians, scientists, and public health leaders criticized past USPSTF recommendations for lagging "far behind contemporary science and real-world clinical needs." (Lou, 1/26)
More on the Trump administration —
The New York Times: After Donations, Trump Administration Revoked Rule Requiring More Nursing Home Staff
Executives who donated to the president’s super PAC met privately with him and urged a repeal of the rule, which was intended to prevent neglect of patients. (Vogel and Jewett, 1/27)
Bloomberg: US Exits Paris Agreement: What Trump’s Withdrawal Means For Climate Change
The US officially exited the Paris Agreement on Jan. 27. It’s the second time President Donald Trump has pulled out of the pact that commits almost 200 countries to keep global warming to no more than 2C (3.6F), and ideally 1.5C, above pre-industrial levels. Compared with his first term in office, Trump has escalated his retreat from global cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (Roston and Kahn, 1/27)
The New York Times: The ‘R-Word’ Returns, Dismaying Those Who Fought To Oust It
The use of a hurtful word still considered taboo is emblematic of the provocative language that courses through the manosphere sector of social media these days — almost gleefully transgressive language often adopted in messaging from the White House. Diplomacy is out and mockery in, whether by displaying plaques that insult former presidents, depicting Donald Trump spraying excrement on protesters from a military jet — or using the “R-word” to question the intelligence of a political opponent, as Mr. Trump did in a Truth Social post on Thanksgiving Day, in which he called Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, “seriously retarded.” (Barry and Rao, 1/26)
