I've spent two decades in public health and bioethics. I'm also a mom and a grandmother. Our family is vaccinated. Vaccination has more than two centuries of evidence behind it. Smallpox, polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus: gone or drastically reduced. Modern monitoring systems continue to watch vaccine safety in real time. That's the public-health story most people know. Here's the psychology underneath-why smart, loving people still hesitate, and how we can help them move toward care.
When it comes to vaccines, president Donald Trump's attitude tends to be "do what I say, not what I do." Over the weekend, it was revealed that Trump received both a flu shot and a COVID-19 booster during his second physical of 2025. News of Trump's inoculations came from Trump's personal physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, who wrote that the shots were part of a preventative health battery "in preparation for upcoming international travel."
Roughly 31% of weekly tests are coming back positive for rhinovirus and enterovirus. Doctors say this signals a rough cold and flu season ahead. "As a pediatric ICU physician and a pediatrician, I am bracing myself. I am worried about what's going to happen in the winter months," said Dr. Rishma Chand with Dignity Health Northridge Hospital. She said a cough, sore throat, diarrhea and vomiting should be taken seriously. Her advice is to treat symptoms with rest, fluids and over-the-counter meds.
If you feel unwell with a bad throat and a temperature you may well have caught one of the new strains of Covid circulating this autumn. XFG, called Stratus by some, and NB.1.8.1, known as Nimbus, are now the most common variants being passed around in the UK, according to officials. Experts say these do not appear to pose any bigger threat than previous types of Covid or make people feel more ill.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.
We're doing a series of working groups, and in those working groups are experts, not just from the United States but all over, and one of the biggest concerns is what we are doing in our own country to put our own people's health at risk: dismantling public health, listening to literally crackpot ideas about what's happening. The Democrat then noted that in 1800 U.S. life expectancy was 35 and is now 78, before rounding directly on Kennedy:
We all want to minimize the risk of fire to our homes and communities, but the EMBER plan is a simplistic, one-size-fits-all response to fire preparedness. The EMBER plan promotes, among other recommendations, that all vegetation within 5 feet of the house be removed. Trees and plants near and around homes provide shade and insulation, keeping homes cooler. Cooler homes reduce the need for air conditioning, which is a contributor to greenhouse gases that contribute to conditions for extreme wildfires.
WSJ obtained a summary of the poll that read, Our recent national survey of voters shows that there is broad unity across party lines supporting vaccines such as measles (MMR), shingles, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (TDAP), and hepatitis B. The report concluded that the results were in line with what numerous other surveys have shown: A majority of the public, including both Democrats and Republicans, remain broadly supportive of requiring that children be vaccinated against preventable diseases to attend school.
Kennedy's formal requirement for vaccine makers to remove thimerosal addresses decades of anti-vaccine campaigns against the preservative, despite its long history and lack of evidence showing harm.
The lawsuit emphasizes that health secretary Robert F Kennedy's decision to recommend against Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant women and healthy children ignored critical scientific evidence.
