Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Ars Technica reports:
Just days after anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the country’s top health official, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already pulled back some of its efforts to protect Americans with safe, lifesaving vaccines. The agency has indefinitely postponed a public meeting of its vaccine advisory committee and killed a campaign promoting seasonal flu shots.
Last weekend, a Washington Post columnist noted on Bluesky that the CDC’s effective “Wild to Mild” seasonal flu shot campaign had vanished. The campaign highlighted how the seasonal vaccines can prevent influenza infections from becoming severe or life-threatening. The removal is startling given that the US is currently battling one of the worst flu seasons in 15 years.
STAT News reports:
The Department of Health and Human Services’ assistant secretary for public affairs informed the CDC that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wanted advertisements that promote the idea of “informed consent” in vaccine decision-making instead.
Informed consent is the principle that people should be notified of all the risks, as well as benefits, of any medical intervention they receive or any drug they are prescribed. It is a cornerstone of health care delivery.
Shifting the framing of advertising for vaccines that the CDC has long recommended — like flu shots — to put more focus on the possible risks of vaccines could undermine people’s willingness to get vaccinated, or to have their children immunized.
Don’t you feel healthier already?
RFK Jr.’s CDC just pulled a flu vaccine campaign in the middle of the worst flu season in 30 years. 29 million illnesses, 370,000 hospitalizations, and 16,000 deaths—including nearly 70 children.
Public health shouldn’t be political. Get vaccinated.
— Protect Our Care (@protectourcare.org) February 20, 2025 at 4:52 PM