Kevin Ault

more pictures via @aidsmemorial.bsky.social -

"Ryan’s story deeply moved Elton John and sparked a life-changing friendship, one that helped inspire the founding of the Elton John AIDS Foundation."

Today would have been Ryan White's 54th birthday...via eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org

I think if you look at other social media sites you will see that current members of ACIP and Mr. Siri frequently make disparaging comments about Drs. Hotez, Offit, Fauci etc.

So much for "collegiality."

bsky.app/profile/kevi...

Bad framing: ACIP voted to scrap the universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for newborns.

Accurate framing: Anti-vax conspiracy theorists appointed to ACIP by Robert Kennedy Jr., who made a fortune as an anti-vax profiteer, voted to expose babies to a preventable, incurable, deadly illness.

Horizontal Modes of Transmission of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - PubMed The likelihood of horizontal transmission of HBV is greater among household contacts of chronic carriers of HBV and institutionalized individuals.

I found this on my phone while I was listening briefly on Thursday morning. Ironic that Friday morning session started with the chair stating that the recommendation was "approached with rigor" when they missed dozens of studies. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36415805/

and - sadly - it has already been announced.

RFK Jr pushes false claims about HPV cancer-prevention vaccine Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) has a history of promoting false claims about vaccines, particularly the HPV vaccine.

Thanks for quoting me - I wasn't able to listen yesterday afternoon but I am guessing the HPV vaccine will be the next to fall. See @skepticalraptor.bsky.social here - www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalrap...

no I just catching up on my reading this morning... so no real theme to this thread.

I don't think the authors address those points - "We did not differentiate between multiple vaccine doses." The fourth paragraph of the discussion.

yes I thought the authors' discussion of bias was especially good in that publication.

likely lots of confounding variables, but you don't see a study with an n of 28 million every day.

COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination and 4-Year All-Cause Mortality Among Adults in France This cohort study uses the data from all adults aged 18 to 59 years living in France on November 1, 2021, to evaluate whether there is an association of receipt of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine with long-t...

and here's the COVID vaccine article. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

here's the @nejm.org article about the HPV vaccination.

bsky.app/profile/nejm...

And here's the second one - one dose of HPV vaccine provides the same protection as a two dose regimen.

I was interviewed for this report via @cidrap.bsky.social - #MedSky + #ObGynSky + #OncSky.
bsky.app/profile/cidr...

COVID Shots Tied to a Lower Risk of Death From Any Cause Advantage held even after removing coronavirus-related deaths from the mix

"Young and middle-age adults who had at least one dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine were less likely to die of any cause in the following 4 years compared with those who weren't vaccinated"

#MedSky - two great studies lost in the noise this week.

www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...

Analysis of the latest ACIP meeting at the CDC: Vaccines—and rigorous science—are increasingly under attack. A close look at how the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee under RFK Jr. again changed high-stakes recommendations without solid evidence.

Friends, Yesterday and today, I watched many hours of the CDC’s meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

It was painful.

But we learned a lot.

That bad news is that our kids are going to pay the price for RFK jr’s views.

insidemedicine.substack.com/p/analysis-o...

and this tweet was posted by sarahd1.bsky.social -

@saadomer.bsky.social is here and one of the authors, maybe he will comment. Also Dr. Bednarczyk also is on social media but I don't see him here.

Vaccine Panel, Voting to Change Hepatitis B Shot for Newborns, Shares Misleading Information - FactCheck.org Upending decades-old guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee voted to no longer issue a blanket recommendation that all newborns receive a hepatitis B vac...

This week's ACIP meeting was filled with false and misleading statements that are not supported by evidence. Here's an explanation of that evidence by two experienced science writers, one of whom has a PhD in Immunology from Yale:

www.factcheck.org/2025/12/vacc...

same for Michigan.

YouTube video by akimmbo Little Richard ** Good Golly Miss Molly** (LIVE)

there was only one Little Richard. www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCYG...

'Puppets on a string': ACIP chair airs independence concerns The newly appointed chair’s comments were overheard Friday during a break in the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ proceedings.

'Puppets on a string': ACIP chair airs independence concerns

NYTimes

Today is a dark day for American science and biomedicine. My comments in @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...

ACIP is discussing adjuvants. Why are adjuvants added to vaccines? Is the aluminum in vaccines safe? We address these questions and more.

Acting Commissioner Jeffrey A. Brown FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 5, 2025 Acting Health Commissioner Brown Issues Executive Directive Protecting Birth Dose of Hepatitis B Vaccine in New Jersey NJ Department of Health Continues to Recommend Universal Vaccination Against Hepatitis B for All Infants TRENTON, NJ – Today, Acting Health Commissioner Jeff Brown signed an Executive Directive protecting the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. The action comes amid discussions at the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meeting on December 4 - 5, 2025, about when to administer the first dose. “Updated recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices would weaken our ability to protect public health and stop the transmission of preventable disease. We know unequivocally that vaccines save lives,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “Since 1991, millions of newborns have received the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, which has proven to be one of the most effective childhood immunizations in preventing infections and deaths. In New Jersey, we are continuing to trust the science that has saved countless newborns from adverse health outcomes.” “New Jersey continues to recommend hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns within 24 hours of birth. For over 30 years, this approach has nearly eliminated hepatitis B in American children, preventing a disease that can cause lifelong liver damage, cirrhosis, and cancer,” said Acting Health Commissioner Brown. “Through this Executive Directive, I reaffirm our commitment to protecting children and families in New Jersey with science-backed health guidance. We will continue to follow evidence-based recommendations that have kept our communities safe for decades.”

With the Executive Directive, the New Jersey Department of Health continues to recommend that newborns and children receive the hepatitis B vaccine based on clear, scientific, and evidence-based recommendations from trusted medical professionals, specifically the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), as well as consensus guidance by the Northeast Public Health Collaborative. The Department also recommends that health care providers in the state follow the dosing schedules for the administration of the hepatitis B vaccine to newborns and children as established by the AAP, which can be found at downloads.aap.org/AAP/PDF/AAP-Immunization-Schedule.pdf. Vaccination Prevents Hepatitis B Transmission to Newborns Since 1991, all infants and young children have been recommended to receive the hepatitis B vaccine. Before the universal hepatitis B infant vaccination recommendation in 1991, approximately 18,000 children in the US were infected each year before they reached the age of 10 years. Half of these infections were from mother to child during birth; the other half were from other exposures. This underscores the critical importance of vaccination at birth. Starting the hepatitis B vaccine at birth provides the best protection when the child is the most vulnerable to chronic infection. Following implementation of the routine birth dose, the US saw a 95% decrease in infant infections. In fact, the hepatitis B vaccine has prevented 90,100 childhood deaths in the US since 1994, making it one of the most effective childhood immunizations for prevention of deaths. For decades, the AAP, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and other leading experts in medicine, immunology, and public health have recommended that the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine be administered prior to hospital discharge for every newborn in the United States. In addition, the birth dose coverage rate has been adopted as a mea…

Despite this strong history of the birth dose preventing disease transmission, today, ACIP voted to recommend shared clinical decision making for parents deciding when or if to give the hepatitis B vaccine, including the birth dose, for infants born to a pregnant person who tests negative for hepatitis B surface antigen. This means that continued administration of the vaccine to infants born to a birthing parent who is negative for hepatitis B should follow a discussion of risks and benefits with their health care provider. For those not receiving the birth dose, the Advisory Committee suggested the initial dose be administered no earlier than two months of age. ACIP reaffirmed the recommendation to administer the vaccine within 12 hours to babies born to a birthing parent known to be positive for hepatitis B surface antigen or of unknown status. The committee also passed a procedural vote to adopt a resolution that aligns the Vaccines for Children program with its recommendations. Additionally, ACIP recommended administration of a blood test for infants after the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine to check if they’ve developed antibodies to the vaccine before proceeding with additional doses. However, there is no data to support serology testing to indicate successful prevention of future infections prior to the completion of the hepatitis B vaccine series. At this time, the CDC has not yet adopted these recommendations. “The hepatitis B vaccine has been safely given to millions of newborns, and delaying it unnecessarily puts children at risk from an entirely preventable disease,” added Acting Commissioner Jeff Brown. “Vaccines remain our most effective defense against preventable illnesses. Early vaccination protects children from decades of health complications and gives families peace of mind.”

Things are incredibly stupid at the Federal level with anti-vax, but at least some states like NJ are doing what they can.

#NJDOH Acting Health Commissioner Brown Issues Executive Directive Protecting Birth Dose of Hepatitis B Vaccine in New Jersey

During the Friday discussion, Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist who was recently named as the panel’s new chair, was overheard telling another panel member that he wanted to talk to “some of the higher-ups” about the panel’s work. “You know, I feel like, you know, it’s, sort of like we feel like a little bit like puppets on a string as opposed to really being an independent advisory panel,” according to a transcript of the exchange captured by videoconferencing software and obtained by The Washington Post. Asked about those remarks, Milhoan wrote in a text message, “There are pressures from many organizations: federal, industry, medical organizations that are trying to influence by ad hominem attacks, when we are trying to look at and ask for data.”

!!!

The Post obtained hot mic comments by the chair of RFK Jr.'s CDC vaccine committee.

"We feel like a little bit like puppets on a string as opposed to really being an independent advisory panel" wapo.st/4atob4M

RFK Jr.'s vaccine panel says not all newborns need Hep B shots The shot was previously recommended for all infants after birth to prevent an infection that can cause severe liver disease and cancer.

more here from @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social and @pauloffit.bsky.social - share.google/9rqRfSqh4RTk...

“Debate me, bro!”: Debate challenges by science deniers in the age of COVID-19 Quacks, science deniers, and conspiracy theorists love to challenge doctors, scientists, and science communicators to "live public debates" over the science they deny. I just say no, and you should sa

for those of you watching ACIP, the "debate me bro" fallacy has made a few appearances today via gorskon.bsky.social.

#MedSky.

sciencebasedmedicine.org/debate-me-br...

RFK Jr. just pushed our public health system off a cliff.

Panel Votes to End Recommendation for Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns

A dystopian reality: unqualified decision makers with disregard for basic concepts in epidemiology, clinical medicine, and the evidence-to-decision guidelines process on full display at ACIP - leaving American children to bear the harm. (A few ACIP members excluded) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...