Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New ACIP Charter Allows RFK Jr. To Keep Vaccine Critics He Put In Place
Stat: New ACIP Charter Widens Member Criteria, Focuses On Vaccine Alternatives
A new charter for the panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine use substantially refocuses the responsibilities of the committee, downplaying its role in recommending the use of new vaccines and giving it responsibility to assess alternatives for disease prevention. (Branswell and Oza, 6/25)
The Hill: Sanders Releases Emails Showing RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Influence
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday released a tranche of Health and Human Services (HHS) emails that appear to show HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pressuring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over its vaccine messaging. Emails indicate that Kennedy directed the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel to restrict access to vaccines, allowed researchers to access “confidential data” to indicate the disproven claim that vaccines cause autism and changed recommendations for the public to receive COVID-19 shots without input from the CDC. (Mancini, 6/25)
KFF Health News: Efforts To End School Vaccine Mandates Hit A Wall In Florida
Every state, along with Washington, D.C., requires children to obtain certain vaccinations before they can attend school or childcare. These mandates date back decades, and many public health experts consider them a foundational defense against infectious disease. Since the summer of 2025, Florida leaders have aimed to make the state the first to drop some of those vaccine mandates. The anti-vaccine rhetoric has often been positioned as a push for “medical freedom.” Related efforts to revise laws and regulations rumbled along at the state health department and in the legislature for months. (Sheridan, 6/26)
The Washington Post: Dating Apps For Unvaccinated People Are Successfully Matching Anti-Vaxxers
Dating apps are pairing unvaccinated people across the country — and in some cases hosting controversial in-person events. (Battle, 6/26)
Related news about flu and measles —
The New York Times: Military Leaders Sought Flu Vaccination Program Weeks Before Outbreak Hit Base
On May 5, several weeks before a major flu outbreak at an Air Force basic training in Texas, the leaders of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force asked the secretary of defense’s office for permission to vaccinate trainees for the flu, military officials said. ... But the permission did not come until June 16, according to Pentagon officials. By that point the flu was already racing through an Air Force Basic Military Training wing in San Antonio. (Jaffe, 6/25)
CIDRAP: Two New Reports Highlight Obstacles To Containing US Measles Outbreaks
Two new reports examining recent US measles outbreaks highlight the challenges of containing the spread of the disease in certain communities. (Bergeson, 6/25)
The latest on the Ebola outbreak —
Bloomberg: Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak Offers New Insights As Recoveries Double In Congo
As more patients recover from the world’s largest recorded Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, doctors are beginning to piece together how the rare virus behaves — offering the clearest picture yet of one of the disease’s least-studied strains. The number of recoveries reported by Congolese health authorities more than doubled in eight days, rising to 138 on Wednesday from 67 on June 16, even as treatment centers admit dozens of patients daily. (Gale, 6/26)
MedPage Today: Hemorrhage May Be 'Infrequent' Feature In Latest Ebola Outbreak
In a departure from past Ebola outbreaks, roughly 90% of the patients testing positive for Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD) had no hemorrhagic signs or bleeding at presentation, according to a preliminary report. (Rudd, 6/25)
The New York Times: Congo Ebola Crisis: Contact Tracing Is Dangerously Behind, Officials Warn
Africa’s top health agency offered a grim outlook on the Ebola crisis raging in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, warning that contact tracing was dangerously behind where it needed to be to end the spread. “If we don’t stop this outbreak now,” Dr. Jean Kaseya, the director general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Thursday, “for sure it will be the largest Ebola outbreak ever.” (Mpoke Bigg and Nolen, 6/25)
CIDRAP: Africa CDC Triples Amount Needed To Fight Ebola
Today during a press conference, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, said the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) would require $1.4 billion in funding to contain, almost triple the $518 million Africa CDC estimated it needed at the beginning of the month. "If we don't have this $1.4 billion and if we don't resolve the humanitarian issue, we will not stop this outbreak,” Kaseya said. So far, about $910 million has been pledged for the outbreak, but only 13% of that had been released. (Soucheray, 6/25)
