Newsroom | Defend Public Health

The Hill

RFK Jr. opens new chapter in US vaccine policy

DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs tells The Hill, “Lynn Redwood was permitted to give a presentation that was just simply deceptive about thimerosal and vaccines. And that type of behavior is really not something that a serious scientific body should be considering.” She further calls the June ACIP meeting "circus-like."

RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Panel Has a New Approach: Question Everything

Is RFK Jr's new ACIP really taking a "question everything" attitude, or is it just questioning the safety of proven vaccines? DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs tells the Wall Street Journal, “Some members of ACIP seem to have an agenda to undermine the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other disease preventatives in the minds of the public.”

The Washington Post

What is thimerosal, the flu vaccine ingredient targeted by RFK Jr.?

Federal vaccine advisers installed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted Thursday to stop recommending influenza vaccines containing thimerosal -- and DPH member and infectious disease epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera debunked HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's "evidence" about the preservative: "There is zero evidence of his claims in any of those links.”

Axios

RFK Jr. vaccine panel rolls back recommendation on certain flu shots

"Although the committee made some correct decisions today, health care providers and insurers should be wary of the decisions from this committee, so long as it's stacked with RFK Jr.'s puppets," Elizabeth Jacobs, professor emerita of epidemiology at the University of Arizona and a member of advocacy group Defend Public Health, said in a statement. "Medical societies are gearing up to provide up-to-date vaccination guidance, and that's where healthcare providers and patients should look."

Private sector, philanthropy can’t replace Trump administration science cuts

Defending Public Health coordinating committee members James Alwine and Gregg Gonsalves discuss the scope of science funding cuts proposed by the Trump administration and why private philanthropy cannot fill the gap.

defend public health

ACIP Approves Several Vaccines but Reveals Serious Problems

At this week’s meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, members voted to approve influenza vaccine as well as monoclonal antibodies for RSV prevention despite several of them apparently struggling to understand the data presented by scientists. Members of Defend Public Health said today that while these votes were encouraging, going forward, healthcare providers and insurers should be wary of relying on ACIP for decision-making related to which vaccines to offer or cover.

The 11-Mile Drive That Revolutionized Science

Virologist and DPH coordinating committee member James Alwine discusses key moments in his career, the power of NIH research funding, why “silly science” saves lives, and the Trump administration threats now dismantling the foundations of health research. This is part 1 of a 2-part conversation -- part 2 will be out in early July.

Ohio newborns and their families will pay the price for Medicaid cuts.

DPH member Teri Mills and co-author Eileen Gordon review the impact proposed Medicaid cuts in the Trump budget bill will have on care for pregnant women, newborns, and seniors in Ohio.

The nation

Bill Cassidy: A Profile in Cowardice

DPH Coordinating Committee member Gregg Gonsalves profiles Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Senator and physician, whose unwillingness to stand up for his principles has paved the way for RFK Jr to implement his anti-vaccine crusade.

article

As Predicted, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Spreads Dangerous Public Health Disinformation

On the CounterPoint radio show, DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs discusses her alarm at Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to COVID vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and children; as well as removing all 17 sitting members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee.

RFK Jr. vaccine panel puts nation at risk

In this syndicated piece that ran in over 20 outlets nationwide, DPH coordinating committee members James Alwine and Elizabeth Jacobs lay out the potentially lethal consequences of HHS Secretary Kennedy's sudden replacement of the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and analyze his "ludicrous" justifications for this reckless action.

defend public health

Defend Public Health Responds to SCOTUS Decision on Gender-Affirming Care

DPH calls the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Skrmetti "a sad day for transgender young people and their families in Tennessee, as well as those in other states that have passed or are considering these sorts of unscientific bans" and reiterates that we consider gender-affirming care to be "essential healthcare and a necessary part of public health.”