Myra Batchelder

If you haven't already gotten a COVID vaccine this year, now is a good time to get one!

Parents will still be able to get the hepatitis B vaccine for their children at no cost even though the CDC's vaccine advisers recommended a major change to the immunization practice.
https://cnn.it/3Ml3kqo

I’m 15 years old and have a disability. Social media has been a lifeline – why is the government kicking me off? | Ezra Sholl As I come to terms with life as a quadriplegic, Instagram and TikTok are a reminder I’m not alone

Beautifully said, Ezra.
This social media ban for kids and teens is a poorly thought out knee jerk reaction and many kids will be harmed because of it.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Home Keep Healthcare Local and Affordable You shouldn't have to drive an hour or go broke just to see your doctor. Rural hospitals are closing or cutting services. People can't afford care, so they wait...

More Special Elections this Tuesday!

Georgia, vote for Democrat Eric Gisler in special general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 121 in Clarke and Oconee Counties!

www.ericgisler.com

People keep telling me that private insurance providers will keep covering preventative care like vaccines because it costs them less in the long run—but I grew up in the before times. As in the times before the ACA.

It could take decades to recover from where we are.

If you've earned student debt cancellation—after over 20 years of payments—you could get hit with a MASSIVE tax bill.

The Trump Administration should stop this “tax bomb” for working-class families NOW.

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, a nationwide French cohort study found.”

www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...

Presence of SARS-CoV-2 in fetal organs via intraamniotic infection - Nature Communications Infection with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy may result in maternal and fetal complications. Here, the authors analyze 18 fetuses following maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection and identify distribution in fet...

Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital studied 18 fetuses from women infected with COVID-19 and found SARS-CoV-2 in at least 32 fetal organs, including thymus, thyroid, and intestine.

The virus triggered immune imbalance and DNA damage.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Long #COVID takes $1 trillion global economic toll each year, analysis suggests

Study looks at COVID’s impact on national economies, healthcare systems, labor markets, and quality of life.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...

Black text on a white graph paper background reads, “The Sick Times. COVID-19 trends report: December 2. While all U.S. COVID-19 metrics remain at low-to-moderate levels as of mid-November, wastewater data show clear signs of this year’s winter wave getting started in the Northeast and Midwest. The latest data are from before Thanksgiving, and the increases are likely to continue as outbreaks from holiday travel and gatherings show up in our numbers. — Betsy Ladyzhets CDC wastewater viral activity levels are calculated based on measurements in the last two years only. They do not account for the lower spread that could be possible with more widespread precautions.” A graph at the top of the graphic shows: 

WastewaterSCAN category for SARS-CoV-2 at “medium” with a slight decrease. 

CDC wastewater viral activity level for SARS-CoV-2 at “very low” with a significant increase. CDC COVID-19 test positivity at “moderate” with a slight decrease.

Black text on a white graph paper background reads, “The Sick Times. COVID-19 trends report: December 2. National wastewater trends from the CDC and WastewaterSCAN disagree this week. The CDC reports a substantial increase in its national average between November 15 and 22, while WWSCAN reports a slight decrease between November 12 and 19. Both dashboards agree, however, that the Midwest and Northeast are seeing sustained increases of SARS-CoV-2 in their wastewater, while viral levels in the West and South remain lower and stable.”

Black text on a white graph paper background reads, “The Sick Times. COVID-19 trends report: December 2. Healthcare system data and state-reported data similarly show that the Midwest and Northeast are seeing the start of a likely winter wave before the rest of the country. California reports very low SARS-CoV-2 levels in its wastewater. Kansas also reports low levels, in a new wastewater dashboard the state just launched. Meanwhile, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Vermont (also with a new dashboard, upgrading from weekly reports) report increases in their wastewater.”

Black text on a white graph paper background reads, “The Sick Times. COVID-19 trends report: December 2. "Vaccination rates in the U.S., fall 2025." The chart has four lines representing estimated vaccination rates: flu vaccines in adults and children (purple solid line and purple dashed line, respectively), and COVID-19 vaccines in adults and children (teal solid line and teal dashed line). The purple lines representing flu vaccines are much higher, going up toward 40%, than the teal lines representing COVID-19 vaccines. In the latest estimate, for November 22, only 15% of adults and 6% of children have received COVID-19 vaccines. Text below the title notes: "CDC estimates based on survey data from the National Immunization Survey-Fall Respiratory Virus Module, as of December 1, 2025." Text reads, “Seasonal flu spread is accelerating more rapidly and uniformly than COVID-19, at least in our pre-Thanksgiving data. Flu certainly merits some attention in the winter, but it does not pose as much of a chronic disease threat to every organ system as COVID-19 does. And yet, the CDC’s estimates of vaccinations so far show far more Americans getting their flu shots than their COVID-19 shots.”

While all U.S. COVID-19 metrics remain at low-to-moderate levels as of mid-November, wastewater data show clear signs of this year’s winter wave getting started in the Northeast and Midwest.

Read @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social's full COVID-19 trends report at The Sick Times: bit.ly/4pgWQaD

Reminder: It's never too late to start wearing a mask again

The layered approach is the best way to reduce your chances of getting #COVID19. It's not just one mitigation. Layering multiple mitigations will help prevent you getting it or spreading it: masking, distancing, going virtual, air purifiers, ventilation, Far-UVC, and vaccines all add up.

Why do babies need the hepatitis B vaccine if they aren’t high-risk?

Short answer: Because hepatitis B is a tricky virus.

Longer answer: Continue reading ⬇️

🧵1/9 @kkjetelina.bsky.social @meganranney.bsky.social @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social

Illustration shows toothbrush with a small virus on it.

2️⃣ Hepatitis B virus requires only a very tiny dose to cause infections, which means that even though it is bloodborne and sexually transmitted, it can be spread casually, like through sharing a toothbrush or even through being bitten by an infected person (such as at daycare).

4/9

All internships should be paid.

Remote paid summer internship opportunity for college rising juniors & seniors who are passionate about expanding health care access!

More special elections coming up this month!

"the USPS is a miracle. it's in the constitution. for the price of a single stamp you can send a letter across the country, from Hawaii to Maine. Trump is trying to take that away from you. He's attacking Christmas cards and wedding invitations. It's un-American and it has to stop."

HIV/AIDS activists block intersection near White House World AIDS Day provided backdrop for calls to fully fund PEPFAR

More than 100 activists marched on the White House, denouncing the Trump-Vance administration for gutting HIV/AIDS programs and ignoring World AIDS Day altogether. Read the full article here ▶️

It wasn’t until I visited the homes of some of my friends in college I realized how many different levels there are between middle class, upper middle class, and “billionaire.”

There’s a difference between being economically anxious and poverty, even in high cost/high income cities.

Vaccines save lives.

The hepatitis B vaccine had been recommended for all newborns since 1991.

From 1990-2019, acute hepatitis B infections reported among children and teens fell 99 percent. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/w...

You know what does increase the risk of an early miscarriage, though? COVID does.

RFK Jr.’s CDC panel: No more hepatitis B vaccine for some newborns The CDC's vaccine advisory panel, stocked with anti-vaccine activists and loyalists to RFK Jr., voted Friday to stop recommending a birth dose of vaccine.

Kennedy's zombie ACIP panel just voted to restrict hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. Experts say it will harm children for no reason. www.ms.now/news/rfk-cdc...

ACIP member Dr. Cody Meissner:

"'Do no harm' is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this wording. And I vote no."

I really can't emphasize enough that if you care about local politics, all you gotta do is show up. Just a regular schmegular person showing up. Literally just show up consistently in person and within a remarkably short amount of time, you will have a shocking amount of influence.

And/or if another Democratic Senator was Senate Minority Leader.

Thinking about how different the Democrats response would likely be to everything if Harry Reid were still in Dem leadership instead of Schumer.