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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

FDA approves a next-generation Covid vaccine from Moderna, with restrictions

Published May 31, 2025

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Published by: STAT
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By Helen Branswell

The Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna’s new Covid-19 vaccine late Friday, though it placed restrictions on its use that the company’s existing Covid shot, Spikevax, does not currently face.

The new vaccine, which will be marketed under the name mNexspike, will not immediately replace Spikevax. A statement from the company said both vaccines will be available on the market for the time being.

“The FDA approval of our third product, mNEXSPIKE, adds an important new tool to help protect people at high risk of severe disease from Covid-19,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in the statement. “Covid-19 remains a serious public health threat, with more than 47,000 Americans dying from the virus last year alone.”

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Almost 70 per cent of Canadians surveyed want child vaccines to be mandatory: poll

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Hannah Alberga

A new poll suggests nearly 70 per cent of Canadians support mandatory childhood vaccinations, but at least one public health official says she’s uncomfortable with the idea of forcing parents to immunize their kids.

The Angus Reid Institute survey landed Thursday as Public Health Ontario said 93 new measles cases have emerged in the province over the past week, bringing the total number of infections there to 1,888 since October.

The poll found 69 per cent of respondents said proof of immunization should be required for kids to attend daycare and school. That’s an increase from the 55 per cent of respondents who said the same thing last year, before a measles outbreak emerged in multiple provinces and infected mostly unvaccinated infants, kids and teens.

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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

Loss Of MRNA, Bird Flu Vaccines Threatens Our Biosecurity

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: Forbes
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By Judy Stone

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that it’s canceling a $760 million contract with Moderna for a bird flu vaccine, saying that further development “was not scientifically or ethically justifiable.” The cancellation comes after Moderna received positive interim data from a trial testing the safety and immunogenicity of its H5N1 bird flu vaccine candidate. The fact that the Biden administration had approved the contract with Moderna did not help.

This administration’s distrust of mRNA vaccines has been apparent. In February, Rep. Adam Schiff stated that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., “promoted the lie that mRNA vaccines alter human DNA.” Kennedy has previously called mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations dangerous. Further, at least seven states have proposed GOP-sponsored legislation banning or limiting mRNA vaccines and fueling mistrust in vaccines.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC Won’t Require Measles Vaccination for Schools

Published May 29, 2025

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Published by: The Tyee
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By Michelle Gamage

Canada is in the middle of the largest measles outbreak it has seen in generations, with 2,515 cases so far this year as of May 17, which is the most recent data reported by Health Canada as of Monday.

Despite the spread of the disease B.C. is not considering making measles immunization mandatory for attending school, as it is in Ontario and New Brunswick, the Health Ministry told The Tyee in an emailed statement.

“There is no requirement from the province for students to be vaccinated to attend school, or that students’ immunization records be provided as part of school registration,” the ministry said.

Instead its strategy is mostly a reactive one, where it will use data to respond to outbreaks and exposures. B.C. will also encourage people to get vaccinated and will open school-based immunization clinics in some areas with low vaccination rates.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

COVID vaccine ‘strongly recommended’ during pregnancy, Canadian doctors say

Published May 28, 2025

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Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
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TORONTO — Canada’s gynecologists say COVID-19 vaccination “remains safe and strongly recommended” during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada issued the assurance Wednesday, a day after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a longtime anti-vaccine activist — declared the shot is no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women south of the border.

Pregnant women who become infected with COVID-19 are at higher risk of severe illness requiring hospitalization and intensive care than women who are not pregnant, the SOGC said.

Getting the COVID-19 vaccine also helps protect against serious complications associated with the virus, such as preterm birth, it said.

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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

Doctors fear ‘devastating consequences’ for pregnant people after RFK Jr order on Covid-19 boosters

Published May 28, 2025

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Published by: The Guardian
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By Jessica Glenza

Kennedy’s unilateral decision to change the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule for Covid-19 vaccines demonstrates once again why he is completely unqualified to be the HHS secretary.

In Congressional testimony on May 14, Kennedy said, ‘I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.’ Yet two weeks later he is making arbitrary public health decisions, defying norms, and with no accountability.

— Dr Robert Steinbrook, research director at consumer rights group Public Citizen
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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

RFK Jr says no COVID vaccines for healthy children, pregnant women

Published May 27, 2025

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Stephanie Soucheray

Today Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made another sweeping change to the US vaccine landscape, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed its recommendation of the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children and pregnant women.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that, as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant woman has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule,” Kennedy said in a video message, flanked by Martin Makary, MD, MPH, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health.

The move comes just 1 week after the FDA announced—via an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine—that the vaccine would now be offered only to adults 65 years and older or those with underlying conditions that made them vulnerable to severe COVID-19.

Today’s video message is short and direct but is already causing confusion, as pregnancy itself is considered a risk factor for severe COVID-19.

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Topic: kakistocracyView all posts for the topic: kakistocracy

The FDA’s misguided new Covid vaccine policy repeats past mistakes

Published May 21, 2025

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Published by: MSNBC
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By Dr. Kavita Patel

The Food and Drug Administration is rewriting America’s Covid vaccine playbook — and not for the better. Its new guidance would trade the clarity and reach of our current vaccination strategy for a confusing age-based and risk-based framework that simply doesn’t fit the realities of Americans’ health. As a primary care physician who has spent years on the front lines of pandemic response, I see this as a step backward that ignores both the lessons of our past and the needs of our most vulnerable patients.

The FDA’s proposed framework eerily mirrors the segmentation we attempted in fall 2021 with Covid boosters. When boosters initially rolled out in September 2021, the FDA authorized them only for specific groups: adults 65 and older, those 18-64 with high-risk conditions, and those with occupational exposure risks.

The approach failed. As someone who had to explain these complex eligibility requirements to confused patients, I can attest to the chaos it created. This limited approach created tremendous confusion among health care providers and patients alike. Pharmacies and clinics struggled to verify eligibility, people misunderstood their risk category and, ultimately, many high-risk individuals who genuinely needed boosters never received them.

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Topic: NovavaxView all posts for the topic: Novavax

F.D.A. Approves Novavax Covid Vaccine With Stricter New Conditions

Published May 17, 2025

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Published by: The New York Times
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By Christina Jewett, Apoorva Mandavilli

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine, but only for older adults and for others over age 12 who have at least one medical condition that puts them at high risk from Covid.

Scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who typically make decisions on who should get approved shots and when, have been debating whether to recommend Covid shots only to the most vulnerable Americans. The F.D.A.’s decision appeared to render at least part of their discussion moot.

The new restriction will sharply limit access to the Novavax vaccine for people under 65 who are in good health. It may leave Americans who do not have underlying conditions at risk if a more virulent version of the coronavirus were to emerge. It could also limit options for people who want the vaccine for a wide array of reasons, including to protect a vulnerable loved one.

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Topic: Nova ScotiaView all posts for the topic: Nova Scotia

1 case of measles confirmed in Nova Scotia

Published May 6, 2025

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Published by: CBC News
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By Carolyn Ray

Nova Scotia is confirming its first case of measles.

Dr. Robert Strang, the chief medical officer of health, told a news conference Tuesday that the patient is an adult in Halifax who recently travelled to the United States. They went to the emergency department at the QEII hospital in Halifax on Sunday night.

“We were well prepared for this,” Strang said. “Appropriate steps were taken very quickly when this person came in for care to minimize exposure.”

Strang said the patient had one dose of the measles vaccine when they were younger, but did not receive the second. The Health Department said in a news release that “people generally need two [doses] to be fully vaccinated” against measles.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

VA study: Pfizer COVID booster 68% effective against hospitalization

Published May 2, 2025

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Stephanie Soucheray

A study published earlier this week in Nature Communications using claims data from the US Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System finds protection from the 2024-25 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was 68%, 57%, and 56% against COVID-19–associated hospitalizations, emergency department and urgent care (ED/UC) visits, and outpatient visits, respectively.

However, the authors caution that uptake of the vaccine was extremely low—only 3.7% through November 2024—and the study did not assess waning effectiveness.

The study estimated early BNT162b2 KP.2 (2024-25 formulation) vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19 outcomes compared to not receiving the vaccine.

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Topic: YukonView all posts for the topic: Yukon

2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine recommended for Yukoners at higher risk of severe illness

Published April 25, 2025

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Published by: Yukon News
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By Talar Stockton

In an April 24 press release, YG said it is acting on the advice of the Yukon’s chief medical officer of health, and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

Those who are eligible for the twice-per-year vaccination encompass multiple categories: people aged 6 months to 64 years who are moderately to severely immunocompromised due to an underlying condition or treatment; residents in long-term care homes and other congregate living settings for seniors; and adults 65 years or older.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario reports 95 new measles cases, sending total above 1,000 since outbreak began

Published April 24, 2025

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Published by: The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO – Public Health Ontario is reporting 95 new measles cases since last week, bringing the total number of people infected past 1,000.

It says a total of 1,020 people have had measles since the province’s outbreak began last October.

The agency says the ongoing rise in cases is “due to continued exposures and transmission among individuals who have not been immunized.”

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‘On the precipice of disaster’: Measles may be endemic in 25 years if vaccine uptake stays low, model predictsColourized transmission electron micrograph of a measles virus particle (red), with a yellow background. Photo: CDC and NIAID. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Topic: measlesView all posts for the topic: measles

‘On the precipice of disaster’: Measles may be endemic in 25 years if vaccine uptake stays low, model predicts

Published April 24, 2025

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Mary Van Beusekom

Without a 5% higher measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rate, measles may revert to endemicity in the United States within 25 years, while a 10% decline in vaccination could lead to 11.1 million cases of the highly contagious illness in that timeframe, according to predictions from a simulation model published today in JAMA.

Also today, the World Health Organization (WHO); UNICEF; and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance warn that burgeoning outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases threaten to reverse years of progress.

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Ontario School Safety Calls on Province for an Immediate Vaccine-PLUS Strategy to Tackle Current Measles OutbreakColourized transmission electron micrograph of a measles virus particle (red), with a blue background. Photo: CDC and NIAID. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario School Safety Calls on Province for an Immediate Vaccine-PLUS Strategy to Tackle Current Measles Outbreak

Published April 24, 2025

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Published by: Ontario School Safety
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Toronto, Ontario – [April 24, 2025] – In an urgent appeal to protect the health and safety of Ontario’s students, education workers, and families, Ontario School Safety (OSS) has issued an open letter asking the Ontario Provincial Government and Public Health Ontario for an immediate vaccine-PLUS strategy, which includes the essential role of healthy indoor air, to curtail the spread of measles. This critical request comes in the wake of concerning measles infection rates – as of April 17th, 2025, Public Health Ontario is reporting 925 measles cases in the province, more than five times the number of cases than the total number of cases over the last 12 years. Encouraging a vaccine-only strategy is insufficient due to barriers to access, and because measles spreads not only through direct contact with secretions or contaminated surfaces, but through the air we breathe.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Novavax says its COVID-19 shot is on track for full FDA approval after delay

Published April 23, 2025

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Published by: The Associated Press
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By Matthew Perrone, Lauran Neergaard

WASHINGTON (AP) — Novavax’s closely watched COVID-19 vaccine is on track for full approval after additional discussions with the Food and Drug Administration, the company said Wednesday.

The news sent company shares soaring more than 21% in morning trading and appeared to resolve concerns that Trump administration officials might be holding up a decision on the shot.

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Topic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies

RFK Jr. eyes reversing CDC’s Covid-19 vaccine recommendation for children

Published April 22, 2025

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Published by: Politico
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By Adam Cancryn

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is weighing pulling the Covid-19 vaccine from the government’s list of recommended immunizations for children, two people familiar with the discussions told POLITICO.

The directive under consideration would remove the Covid shot from the childhood vaccine schedule maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and widely used by physicians to guide vaccine distribution, marking Kennedy’s most significant move yet to shake up the nation’s vaccination practices.

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Volunteers needed to test no-needle COVID vaccine made in HamiltonPhoto of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The building features a glass-walled atrium. In the foreground, there are some trees with green leaves. Photo by Captain108 / Wikimedia Commons.
Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

Volunteers needed to test no-needle COVID vaccine made in Hamilton

Published April 21, 2025

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Published by: Hamilton Spectator
Published on:
By Joanna Frketich

A made-in-Hamilton COVID vaccine that requires no needles is moving to the next stage of testing and researchers are looking for volunteers to take part.

The vaccine that is inhaled instead of injected will be studied by McMaster University researchers with $8 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

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