Social Epidemiologist, Medical Sociologist, Quantitative Methodoloigst | Associate Professor Sociology, Co-Director Global Health @uoregon | Intersectional MAIHDA, health inequities researcher
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This š§µ is long so please bear with me. It is compiles evidence in a historical timeline on how effective #COVIDVaccines are. When a pandemic ends we quickly and easily forget the tools that got us out of it. So here is my labour day gift to you prompted by this headline.
Kennedy must be removed from office. He has already caused a catastrophe at HHS and the CDC. I strongly suspect that he is about to use data manipulated by unscrupulous and unqualified individuals to attempt to falsely show that vaccines are in some way a net harm. He simply must be stopped.
Platner: I believe that input from working people is far more important than input from someone who simply has money. I believe that we shouldnāt be settling for crumbs while billionaires eat the cookie we baked.
9 CDC Directors going back to 1977 speak out. What RFK Jr has done to our nationās public health system "should alarm every American." It "is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
if you only share one of my posts today, let it be this one
Stopped at a Midas repair shop today and the guy there brought up the CDC. This is an example where raising the salience of what is going on really can break through the noise.
New Mexico is overriding the federal government on the topic of COVID19 vaccines to ensure their residents can access them. States hold a tremendous amount of public health power. They should use it.
Mid-wrestle action shot for #Caturday Big guy is being so patient with his adopted baby brother š„°
I went to work on my lecture over some ramen and the server asked if I worked in healthcare, because sheās a cancer bioinformatician who canāt find a job and is in now in tenuous visa territory. Iām so sad and angry about this country, and it keeps hitting me at the moments I donāt expect it
CW: Sexual assault Women are being kidnapped and assaulted by men who impersonate ICE agents. This is one of many reasons why we canāt have a masked, unaccountable secret police force roaming the streets. Urge your elected officials to take action today: www.bluestatedefianc...
The Gilded Rage
Right now, your ability to get access to a COVID vaccine this fall is in jeopardy, whether or not you fit the new, restricted eligiblity criteria. Please send a letter to your member of Congress here. And spread the word. @defendpublichealth.bsky.social actionnetwork.org/letters/writ...
Dr. Dmitri Daskalakis, who resigned from the CDC says that RFKJr said he believes that Avian flu should be allowed to "burn through" the chickens and then children and others, so we can propagate a "stronger species". RFKJr believes in eugenics. RFKJr needs to resign or be fired.
CDC official who resigned: The agency is ābeing transformed into a weapon.ā
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned from the CDC, revealed that RFK Jr. has NEVER been briefed by CDC experts on measles, flu, or Covid: āNo one from my center has ever briefed him on any of those topicsā¦Heās getting his information from somewhereā
The average American simply has no idea how quickly the infrastructure that keeps us safe and healthy is collapsing. These systems run in the background thanks to government employees who quietly do critical work. Those employees are being purged and systems are being destroyed.
Was rummaging through old articles and found this one of Demetre Daskalakis. Apparently, back in 2013, he went to New York City's gay sex clubs and bathhouses and administered meningitis vaccines and helped beat an outbreak.
With US public health agencies now in shambles due to Trump and RFK Jr, if a pandemic like Covid hit this year, I cannot even imagine the scale of death and catastrophe that would follow. The recklessness of this administration is beyond any historical comparison.
I have never seen so many public servants protest the mismanagement of a government. Trumpists will point to this as proof of the deep state, but the reality is that these are professionals who are desperately trying to get the public to understand how bad things are.
There is a massive walk out at the CDC by staff unfolding right now. It is NECESSARY. I stand in solidarity with my CDC colleagues. standing up for science and public health. It is a moral imperative.
AND NOW THE SENIOR CDC LEADERS HAVE JOINED THE WALK OUT! www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ7Q...
"It is impossible to overstate the dangers of this moment for Americaās health and national security." @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social on the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez and the mass resignations leaving the US vulnerable. When science is sidelined for politics, everyoneās health is at risk.
Despite todayās CDC news, I thought Iād continue with my occasional series on measles in pop culture, even though my previous effort didnāt get a single like or re-post (sniff). This one is a little more obscure, being one of Jack Londonās South Sea Tales, with the unlikely title of āYah! Yah! Yah!ā
The well-being of children is a darn good indicator of priorities of a society.
Dear people who are saying that the CDC directors who quit yesterday should have āstayed and foughtā, With all due respect, you do not grasp the magnitude of the problem of RFK Jr. He is asking them to do unethical and immoral things that will actively harm the people of the United States. 1/3
This is what integrity and dedication to public service looks like. CDC has now lost most of its leadership that was actually committed to the health of the American people. The CDC is nearly gone.
Thank you for your service and bravery in speaking truth to power. ā
Enough is enough. The health of the country is in danger. Read our resignation letters: insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n...
from the biggest public health association āRFK Jr. must be removed from his position.ā
š§µ I know it's ridiculous, but when he's talking mitochondrial challenges & inflammation, he's again referring to his idea of vaccine-induced autism. Let me explain.
Do NOT allow them to rewrite history with disinformation. #COVID vaccines worked remarkably well and allowed us to come out of a global pandemic. A picture is worth a thousand words.
We don't have to live like this.
A former CDC staffer adds: āThis is the work of a death cult.ā
Monarez is playing her weak hand perfectly, and should be a model for institutional resistance for the next four years: 1. Make them fire you 2. Donāt go along to get along 3. Donāt apologize, have confidence in your own integrity and the importance of your role 4. Always escalate the conflict
Grateful to Dr Demetre Daskalakis for his voice tonight š„ šš§Ŗš©ŗ
āEugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.ā - Dr. Demetre Daskalakis Read & share his full resignation letter from the CDCššš
CDC list of medical conditions associated w higher risk for severe COVID-19, you need 1 to to qualify for vaccines now: -Cancer (solid or blood cancers) -Cerebrovascular disease (e.g., stroke) -Chronic kidney disease (any stage) -Chronic liver disease (fatty liver, cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis)
Iāve signed; I encourage you to do the same RFK Jr is arguably the most extreme, dangerous anti-vaxx activist/conspiracy theorist on earthāitās horrific heās leading the nationās public health system Also, his 2 main allies, Bhattacharya & Makary, shown in the photo, are also doing HUGE damage
Itās the little joys in life that keep me going ā¤ļøš„°š
We are here asking Vets to join us.
I'm genuinely glad for Canada and this is a smart business play by Moderna but it also stings when you consider the Moderna vaccine exists because of $10 billion dollars of US taxpayer money. And RFK Jr. might kill our access.
This piece is less depressing than it sounds, with some very solid way forward ideas particularly the āBlue State Coalitionā which I think/hope is what is happening with Pritzker/Newsom/Moore/Waltz et al. It comes down to this: America, itās time to prove if we actually can be exceptional.
The MAHA assault on vaccines will kill people & usher in a scientific Dark Age. RFK Jr has got to go. Please join me, my fellow @accountabilityji.bsky.social advisory board members, Nobel laureates, National Academy members, & colleagues calling for his resignation. www.change.org/p/demand-rfk...
Excellent article ššš
This is so importantā¦ Sharon has been tracking license plates on cars driven by ICE agents, and sheās finding they donāt match the vehicles. In other words, ICE is using secret, illegal tacticsājust like we suspected. REMINDER: the DMV is not a federal agency. @governor.ca.gov š§µ
The ideological cancellation of $800 million of scientific research grants because they supposedly focused on DEI was just backed by the Supreme Court. This is horrific on so many levels.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote with Justice Barrett as the deciding vote, allows the Trump administration to cancel NIH grants as part of the administrationās attack on āDEIā while litigation proceeds. Five justices write. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
![SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES No. 25A103 NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, ET AL. U. AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION, ET AL. ON APPLICATION FOR STAY August 21, 2025] The application for stay presented to JUSTICE JACKSON and by her referred to the Court is granted in part and denied in part. The application is granted as to the District Court's judgments vacating the Government's termination of various research-related grants. See Department of Ed. v. California, 604 U.S. _ (2025) (per curiam). The Administrative Procedure Act's](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreiba5k3lggkqji4af6g7yjo7dwkg6xffvsbfvsvw4i3pjhyrioj3dq@jpeg "Click to view full size")
this has to be one of the funniest video iāve ever seen
I signed this letter in support of HHS workers. Please consider joining me. āHealth and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is complicit in dismantling Americaās public health infrastructure and endangering the nationās health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health informationā
Over 750 HHS current and former employees are *on the record* criticizing RFK Jr in the aftermath of the CDC shooting. They call him ācomplicit in dismantling Americaās public health infrastructure ... by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The Trump administration is operating a concentration camp in Florida, stripping people of due process and legal counsel. This isnāt just about immigrationāitās about human rights and the future of our democracy. We need to keep speaking out.
They make me so happy š
Hahah the ring tone guaranteed to make everyone who hears it laugh
lol I would have rewatched it so many times š
An excellent example of turkey group gobbles in trees ā though I intentionally kicked this one off (please enjoy my attempt at a turkey sound š)
To my 10th grade English teacher, who said, āMake the conclusion count.ā
They roost in the trees next to our house. At dusk if something makes one of them nervous (like wind or someone whistling), they gobble. Then ALL of them start doing it and itās *hilarious*.
From @ylepidemiologist.bsky.social: āIf youāre under 65 and not high risk, the window to get a Covid-19 vaccine is right nowābefore the FDA label changes (possibly this Friday). Once it happens, access will be limited immediately.ā
As a former Texas State Rep, let me be clear: LOCKING Rep. Nicole Collier inside the chamber is beyond outrageous. Forcing elected officials to sign āpermission slipsā & take police escorts to leave? Thatās not procedure. Thatās some old Jim Crow playbook.
July 17, 2025 jessicalaynewarnermcdonald Jessica Warner McDonald @jessicamcd.bsky.social
Someone finally had the guts to call the Supreme Court out.
Draft policy would stop NIHāfunded researchers from collecting genderāidentity data This is a calculated and desperate attempt to erase trans and nonbinary people and to ignore their health needs, autonomy, and visibility, along with that of cis women.
Oh. My. God.
This is bad news for kids and heartbreaking for someone who has seen devastating #COVID19 infections in little ones. www.cnbc.com/2025/08/12/f...
The President cannot commandeer any local law enforcement. The President does not run the Smithsonian. The monthly BLS jobs report is required by law. Release the Epstein files. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Friends, a few months ago I asked you all to share what your thoughts on what would improve the health of Americans for a project Defend Public Health was working on. You answered, and we listened. Today, we released our report, Improving the Health of Americans together. You can read it here.
OK, so Iām a public health professor who wrote a book about youth football safety and who teaches about vaccines and misinformationā¦ Actually, Iām just speechless.
rfk jr. is the biggest spreader of health disinformation in the world using the most powerful platform in the world. until he resigns, is fired, or is removed by congress, we are in a very dangerous placeāall of us
500 shots. This could have been a massacre. The shooter wanted a massacre. It's time for RFK Jr. to resign. He has incited this violence for years with his anti-science, anti-vaccine, anti-public health rhetoric. abcnews.go.com/US/suspected...
RFK Jr is demanding the Annals of Internal Medicine, a prestigious medical journal, retract a vaccine study he doesn't like. The rise of US medical fascism is accelerating. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
āThey wonāt overturn same sex marriage!ā Thatās what we all thought about Roe. We didnāt believe it could fall, until it did. Please donāt become complacent. The right wing christofascists have seized power & want to undo decades of hard won civil rights. Protect Obergefell
A union representing workers at CDC said the Friday shooting at its offices was not random and "compounds months of mistreatment, neglect & vilification that CDC staff have endured." Union demands fed. officials condemn vaccine misinformation, saying it puts scientists at risk
From 2020 to 2022 COVID vaccines prevented over 18.5 million hospitalizations, 3.2 million deaths and saved the US $1.15 trillion. mRNA vaccines and treatments are being developed for diabetes, HIV, cancer, and more. Imagine how many more lives we could save if we don't defund science.
Food rotting in fields while people starve. Loving families torn apart for authoritarian photo ops. Gold decorations and new ballrooms while people lose essential healthcare. This cannot continue.
Trump will federalize D.C. police, deploy the National Guard, & send the FBI after homeless people to combat a made-up crisis in D.C. But on Jan. 6th when violent insurrectionists stormed the Capitol he couldn't be bothered to call the National Guard. Make it make sense.
Where are the hard-working Americans who screamed, āTheyāre stealing our jobsā? Youāre getting your wish. Immigrant workers arenāt showing up, and farm owners are hiring.
RFK Jr must resign and I believe those of us who work in healthcare, public health, health research, or any related field should demand his resignation
this is a picture of CDC parents waiting to be reunited with their children at 11:00pm after 5 hours of lockdown
Iām always low grade irritated by the walls of sponsored products on Pinterest ā BUT I confess when I searched for ācottagecore aesthetic interiorsā today I was unprepared for (and delighted by) the Demonic Screaming Cottagecore Goat š¤£
Thank for saying what it is--EXTORTION. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
I'll say it again, as this is ramping up: if you gave access to the archives of goverment data and information, it is your moral responsibility to make sure that untouched versions get preserved, now. There are people worh archival expertise who can help you, if you don't have it yourself. Start now
Our new piece is out in @nature.com big mihi to all my co-authors it was a pleasure to work with you on this @lanipai.bsky.social @niiyokamigaabaw.bsky.social @napaaqtuk.bsky.social @sereananaepi.bsky.social @1nativesoilnerd.bsky.social Bradley Moggridge and Brittany Kamai tinyurl.com/yc4y9kfk
Lies about vaccines became bullets at the CDC. An officer is dead and a family broken. Truth is not optional; it is public safety. Believe lies and you help load the gun. We honor Officer Roseās service and grieve with his family.
Breakfast reading. Richard Seymourās āDisaster Nationalismā. ššš¤šæ
Ooph š®āšØ Adding to my reading list asap.
Tonight, please spare a thought to all our scientists and public health workers who have dedicated their careers to saving millions of lives. Despite their amazing work they are constantly threatened due to politicization and the unfettered spread of misinformation. It should not be like this š
Dear Democrats: āTrump is ripping health insurance from 17 million people while spending hundreds of millions of your tax dollars on obscenely lavish renovationsā is such an easy message that will piss off voters going into midterms. Please donāt screw it up.
A government-sanctioned "truth arbiter" will soon arrive at CBS. Their role will be to ensure that journalists do not criticize this Administration or express views that conflict with its agenda. This is a betrayalānot just of journalistic independence, but of the public trust. š§µ
This is literally some of the craziest shit I have ever read. And that's saying a lot. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Dear all scientists and everyone who cares about #NIH and medical cures: This is very important! Please read the thread and blog post. The Supreme Court looks very likely to blow up NIH grants and create chaos. Decision could come any time. š§Ŗ
Yes! In honor of emergency caturday, please allow me to share our newly adopted kitten:
"I never have been in despair about the world. Enraged. I've been enraged by the world, but never despair. I cannot afford despair. You can't tell the children that there is no hope." ~James Baldwin
In the end, we will win because the very definition of authoritarianism means that there are more of us than there are of them. While MAGA tries to concentrate power in the hands of one man, we will be reminding every single person of their own power to enact change: www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...
Itās mind boggling how many additional people this administration is killing. āI have been in this business for over 50 years on the front lines of public healthā¦And I can say unequivocally that this was the most dangerous public health decision I have ever seen made by a government body.ā
āWhen global health leadership fades, threats abroad are more likely to reach Americans at home. With biosurveillance fragmented across agencies, the likelihood of early detection and containment diminishes.ā Must read about the US dismantling of critical pandemic infrastructure
RFK Jr is a mass murderer in a suit. His intentions were clear before he was confirmed and many of us publicly decried the prospect of a eugenicist and conspiracy theorist being put in charge of the nationās health systems. As his mRNA vaccine shutdown again underlines, heās as bad as we warned.
Americans are relearning the lesson we learned during the Gilded Age of the late 1890s, when robber barons ran the government and the economy for their own benefit: Oligarchy is incompatible with the common good. I'm hopeful we'll respond with a new progressive movement.
And RFK makes money from his antivax disinformation campaign ā he profits from suing vaccine companies.