Julie Leask AO

Some updated resources on vaccine safety - how they are made, ingredients, side-effects, trust and more. From the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. ncirs.org.au/vaccine-safety

Trump pushes unproven medical advice around Tylenol and vaccines The president posted to social media Friday echoing advice from earlier in the week that is contrary to most medical guidance.

On Truth Social Friday, Trump doubled down on unproven claims about Tylenol, vaccines and autism.

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

It’s sad that we’re now having to warn people to be so discerning about what they will hear from the current US government on vaccines. My comments for DW News after the ACIP meeting last week in their article on the recent Tylenol announcement from Trump www.dw.com/en/us-vaccin...

Hopefully the feelpinions about MMR won't become policy but you never know right now. If it became a separate vaccine recommendation, vaccine supply would be a massive issue. Separate visits would lower coverage and delay protection. MMR is carefully timed. It would be a disaster for child health.

Ironically, am in Papua New Guinea doing a workshop on vaccine communication. This morsel provides a teachable moment on what misinformation/disinformation looks like.

Meanwhile here’s a lovely flipchart ready for a trip to PNG tomorrow.

Vaccine Panel Postpones One Vote and Reverses Another Amid Confusion

Vaccine Panel Postpones One Vote and Reverses Another Amid Confusion www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/h...

CDC advisers make their first childhood vaccine edit They voted 8-3 to recommend delaying the use of a measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox vaccine that about 15 percent of children receive.

When your anti-vax Health Secretary stacks the vaccine committee: "Some members seemed confused about the data they were being presented. After their vote on the program that provides free vaccines for children, some members asked what they just voted on." wapo.st/3K9OBNV

EXPERT REACTION: US vaccine panel meeting to consider safety of COVID- EXPERT REACTION: US vaccine panel meeting to consider safety of COVID-19 and other vaccines On Thursday and Friday in the US, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)&

Australian expert reaction: US vaccine panel meeting to consider safety of COVID-19 and other vaccines.
www.scimex.org/newsfeed/exp...

Listening to the end of the ACIP meeting, some members lacked knowledge on how their recommendations affected insurance for children. One motion was only drafted last night and members were confused by its meaning, requesting clarification during the vote. Chaos.

Amazing moment at ACIP....the language of the votes was released so late that voting members of the committee say they're confused about what they're voting for/against.

Thinking about this more, adult vaccination wasn't recorded mandatorily until ~2020. AIR estimates beforehand unreliable and other estimates based on ad-hoc surveys of specific populations such as www1.health.gov.au/internet/mai... You could also try flu tracking.

No but ncirs will have an archive.

It’s #Caturday

Tristan skua (Stercorarius antarcticus hamiltoni). Photo by Noah Strycker.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 reaches Gough Island, where it is associated with mortality in three Tristan skuas. This is worrying because Gough Island is an important breeding site for seabirds, including several species of global conservation concern.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Can Florida really end vaccine mandates? What would this mean for the US and countries like Australia? Florida plans to scrap all vaccine mandates for school students, with the state’s governor describing them as ‘slavery’. Here’s what this could mean.

Florida will end vaccine mandates for children. I am not a fan of rigid mandates, but it's also poor policy to suddenly cease them and while undermining vaccines. Katie Attwell, Nancy Baxter and I unpack this story in @theconvo-bot.bsky.social @sydney.edu.au theconversation.com/can-florida-...

Opinion | Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC and Me I was fired after 29 days because I held the line and insisted on rigorous scientific review.

gift link to dr. susan monarez’s piece in the wall street journal this morning.

More than 1,000 HHS staff call on RFK Jr. to resign.
thehill.com/policy/healt...

The draft legislation for the Australian CDC to start operating as an independent agency in 2026 is now before the Australian Parliament. More info here:
www.cdc.gov.au/about/about-...
We are interested to hear responses to this.

😂 legends

This is a fast moving story but overall sad to see the carnage at CDC.

MAHA Is a Bad Answer to a Good Question - Listen on NYT Audio 1 hour 23 min listen - Rachael Bedard and David Wallace-Wells on Covid disillusionment and the rise of the MAHA movement.

Good discussion on the politics of COVID vaccination in the US - what can and cannot be attributed to the pandemic www.nytimes.com/audio/app/20...

Opinion | The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism (Gift Article) Data can easily be manipulated to show causation that doesn’t exist.

The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

So pleased to share media experiences with our early and mid career academics @sydney.edu.au School of Public Health. Great to get Sophie, Brooke and Katie’s insights too.

Conspiracy Nation My rented inner-city apartment overlooks a park that became an anti-vax hotspot during Covid. From my balcony I saw illegal lockdown protests busted up by riot squads, placards telling stories of people killed by vaccines and a yellow marquee from the United Australia Party. I shut the blinds with a sense that society was coming undone.

In one section of 'Conspiracy Nation', co-author Cam Wilson spends $2750 to report from a three-day retreat with Pete Evans, where he exhibits commendable restraint from landing cheap shots, operating with empathy as he does throughout. satpa.pe/SNKGTS9

Thanks Mike - really appreciate your feedback.

How RFK Jr is eroding global trust in vaccines - ABC listen Donald Trump once declared mRNA vaccines a medical miracle, now his health Secretary is taking an axe to them. Robert F Kennedy Junior doesn’t believe in the science behind the vaccines that were dep...

How RFK Jr is eroding trust in vaccines and the impact of his decision to stop $US500 million in mRNA contracts. I spoke with Samantha Hawley on ABC News Daily podcast about these concerning developments from the US. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

‘No clinical benefit’ to blood test for Pfas, government says, after ‘forever chemicals’ found in Blue Mountains At least 25 people in the area have paid $500 out of pocket to have the blood test for Pfas, an advocate says

‘No clinical benefit’ to blood test for Pfas, government says, after ‘forever chemicals’ found in Blue Mountains. @natashamay.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...