NEWSROOM Type - Any -NewsOpinionPress Release Topic - Any -ClimateDisability JusticeHealth Care & InsuranceInfectious DiseaseInstitutional DefenseInternationalSexual & Reproductive HealthSocial HealthWhopper of the Week News Sep 20, 2025 Vaccine panel that limited covid shot scrutinized after chaotic meetings "Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices showed a tenuous grasp of process and cited flawed research as they revisited COVID, hepatitis B and MMRV shots," writes the Washington Post, citing comments from DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs about the "egregious misrepresentation of data” in the committee's deliberations. News Sep 20, 2025 Elizabeth Jacobs on WCPT radio in Chicago DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs was interviewed on "The Big Picture," a weekly radio show that airs on WCPT 820 AM in Chicago and also available as a podcast. She discussed her work with DPH and our ongoing battles against the destructive policies coming from the administration and particularly from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Opinion Sep 20, 2025 Structural and Scientific Racism, Science, and Health — Evidence versus Ideology In this commentary, DPH member Nancy Krieger and colleague Mary T. Bassett look at how "In spite of decades of rigorous work documenting the harmful effects of structural racism on health, health care, and scientific knowledge and research, the current executive branch of the U.S. government and its political appointees have deemed work on structural racism and health to be ideological and “not scientific.” They argue that the administration's position, and the cut off of grants it produced, is "antiscientific and an abrogation of the government’s responsibility." News Sep 19, 2025 CDC committee endorses restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines This trade publication's coverage of the second day of the September 2025 ACIP meeting highlights some of the dubious data considered by the committee and quotes DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs calling the presentations "smoke and mirrors, designed to generate fear of COVID19 vaccines." News Sep 19, 2025 ACIP COVID-19 Votes Deepen Confusion On Access, Safety Inside Health Policy recaps a chaotic week at the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meetings, with Defend Public Health Coordinating Committee Members Beth Jacobs and Jim Alwine weighing in on the potential impacts of the committee's votes. News Sep 19, 2025 CDC committee votes on COVID-19 shots amid widespread criticism The LA Times describes the 9/19/25 ACIP meeting as "a contentious discussion that at times referenced discredited theories, low-quality data and desperate pleas from physicians and patients to rely upon sound science," quoting DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs on the utter lack of qualifications of Retsef Levi, who led the discussion. News Sep 19, 2025 CDC advisers endorse changes to MMR, varicella vaccine schedules In this story covering day 1 of September's ACIP meeting, DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs calls out ACIP's failure to post information in advance, saying, “Red flags are immediately up, because as a scientist, when you do your work, you’re presenting it. You’re making it public. The fact that they have not posted these materials is very suggestive that they are going to attempt to ambush the public.” Press Release Sep 19, 2025 ACIP Presentation on COVID Vaccines “Smoke and Mirrors, Designed to Cause Fear” Defend Public Health called today’s attempt by officials under the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. using this week’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting to cast doubt on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines a “smoke and mirrors” exercise designed to stir up needless fears of vaccines that have saved millions of lives. Press Release Sep 18, 2025 Defend Public Health Urges Congress: Stand Strong on Health Funding, Even If It Means Shutdown Defend Public Health has sent a letter to House and Senate Leaders urging them not to support a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open past September 30, 2025 unless provisions are included to protect vital public health and healthcare funding, including funding held up by the Trump administration in plain violation of constitutional provisions giving Congress authority over spending. News Sep 16, 2025 From Evidence to Power: Organizing for Public Health with Jon Shaffer, PhD In this episode of the Infectious Dose podcast, sociologist–organizer Jon Shaffer, Ph.D., a member of DPH's Coordinating Committee explains why organizing—not just evidence—wins concrete, local public-health protections, and how Defend Public Health is training state teams to do exactly that. Opinion Sep 16, 2025 RFK Jr. is not healthy for children and other living Americans Santa Cruz physician and Defend Public Health member Jeoffry B. Gordon warns that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine restrictions threaten public health, especially amid a growing U.S. measles outbreak. Kennedy’s limits on COVID-19 vaccine licensing exclude healthy children, pregnant women and many front-line workers, creating confusion and reduced access. He urges readers to get COVID-19 vaccines and to support California SB 144. Opinion Sep 15, 2025 Grandparents for Vaccines Group Gains Traction In this nationally syndicated column, DPH members Donna Gaffney and Teri Mills write, "We are grandparents. We are passionate, committed, and yes, radical. Make no mistake about what we stand for. In the 1960s and 1970s, we marched for civil rights, fought and protested wars, and demanded justice. Today, we march again. This time it’s personal: We are defending our grandchildren’s right to health, their right to vaccines." Pagination Previous page Previous … Page 4 Current page 5 Page 6 Page 7 … Next page Next
News Sep 20, 2025 Vaccine panel that limited covid shot scrutinized after chaotic meetings "Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices showed a tenuous grasp of process and cited flawed research as they revisited COVID, hepatitis B and MMRV shots," writes the Washington Post, citing comments from DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs about the "egregious misrepresentation of data” in the committee's deliberations.
News Sep 20, 2025 Elizabeth Jacobs on WCPT radio in Chicago DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs was interviewed on "The Big Picture," a weekly radio show that airs on WCPT 820 AM in Chicago and also available as a podcast. She discussed her work with DPH and our ongoing battles against the destructive policies coming from the administration and particularly from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Opinion Sep 20, 2025 Structural and Scientific Racism, Science, and Health — Evidence versus Ideology In this commentary, DPH member Nancy Krieger and colleague Mary T. Bassett look at how "In spite of decades of rigorous work documenting the harmful effects of structural racism on health, health care, and scientific knowledge and research, the current executive branch of the U.S. government and its political appointees have deemed work on structural racism and health to be ideological and “not scientific.” They argue that the administration's position, and the cut off of grants it produced, is "antiscientific and an abrogation of the government’s responsibility."
News Sep 19, 2025 CDC committee endorses restrictions on COVID-19 vaccines This trade publication's coverage of the second day of the September 2025 ACIP meeting highlights some of the dubious data considered by the committee and quotes DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs calling the presentations "smoke and mirrors, designed to generate fear of COVID19 vaccines."
News Sep 19, 2025 ACIP COVID-19 Votes Deepen Confusion On Access, Safety Inside Health Policy recaps a chaotic week at the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meetings, with Defend Public Health Coordinating Committee Members Beth Jacobs and Jim Alwine weighing in on the potential impacts of the committee's votes.
News Sep 19, 2025 CDC committee votes on COVID-19 shots amid widespread criticism The LA Times describes the 9/19/25 ACIP meeting as "a contentious discussion that at times referenced discredited theories, low-quality data and desperate pleas from physicians and patients to rely upon sound science," quoting DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs on the utter lack of qualifications of Retsef Levi, who led the discussion.
News Sep 19, 2025 CDC advisers endorse changes to MMR, varicella vaccine schedules In this story covering day 1 of September's ACIP meeting, DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs calls out ACIP's failure to post information in advance, saying, “Red flags are immediately up, because as a scientist, when you do your work, you’re presenting it. You’re making it public. The fact that they have not posted these materials is very suggestive that they are going to attempt to ambush the public.”
Press Release Sep 19, 2025 ACIP Presentation on COVID Vaccines “Smoke and Mirrors, Designed to Cause Fear” Defend Public Health called today’s attempt by officials under the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. using this week’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting to cast doubt on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines a “smoke and mirrors” exercise designed to stir up needless fears of vaccines that have saved millions of lives.
Press Release Sep 18, 2025 Defend Public Health Urges Congress: Stand Strong on Health Funding, Even If It Means Shutdown Defend Public Health has sent a letter to House and Senate Leaders urging them not to support a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government open past September 30, 2025 unless provisions are included to protect vital public health and healthcare funding, including funding held up by the Trump administration in plain violation of constitutional provisions giving Congress authority over spending.
News Sep 16, 2025 From Evidence to Power: Organizing for Public Health with Jon Shaffer, PhD In this episode of the Infectious Dose podcast, sociologist–organizer Jon Shaffer, Ph.D., a member of DPH's Coordinating Committee explains why organizing—not just evidence—wins concrete, local public-health protections, and how Defend Public Health is training state teams to do exactly that.
Opinion Sep 16, 2025 RFK Jr. is not healthy for children and other living Americans Santa Cruz physician and Defend Public Health member Jeoffry B. Gordon warns that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine restrictions threaten public health, especially amid a growing U.S. measles outbreak. Kennedy’s limits on COVID-19 vaccine licensing exclude healthy children, pregnant women and many front-line workers, creating confusion and reduced access. He urges readers to get COVID-19 vaccines and to support California SB 144.
Opinion Sep 15, 2025 Grandparents for Vaccines Group Gains Traction In this nationally syndicated column, DPH members Donna Gaffney and Teri Mills write, "We are grandparents. We are passionate, committed, and yes, radical. Make no mistake about what we stand for. In the 1960s and 1970s, we marched for civil rights, fought and protested wars, and demanded justice. Today, we march again. This time it’s personal: We are defending our grandchildren’s right to health, their right to vaccines."