Some people may benefit from longer vaccination needles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).¹

Recent discussions on social media have shed light on the fact that some people with bigger bodies should be given certain intramuscular vaccines—like the COVID-19 vaccine—with longer needles.

But while this recommendation comes from health authorities like the CDC, experts worry it may not always get put into practice.

“I don’t know if we’re doing enough quality assurance to make sure we’re following these recommendations,” Matthew Laurens, MD, MPH, who conducts studies at the University of Maryland’s Center for Vaccine Development, told Health.

Read more at Health.

Last year’s “triple-demic” marked the beginning of what may be a new normal: a confluence of respiratory infections — RSV, influenza, and covid-19 — will surge as the weather cools each year.

Like blizzards, the specific timing and severity of these outbreaks are hard to forecast. But their damage can be limited in more ways than ever before. More protective vaccines against influenza are on the horizon. And new vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, were approved this year, as were updated covid vaccines. Although the first days of rollout for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines saw hiccups, with short supplies at some pharmacies and billing confusion with some insurers, the shots now are generally available at no cost.

Read more at KFF Health News.

Latinas who had key roles in the development of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19 vaccines are hopeful their work can contribute to improving vaccination rates among Hispanics.

The big picture: Latinos in the U.S. have consistently low inoculation rates against the flu, polio, HPV or hepatitis, and are less likely than other racial or ethnic groups to be vaccinated against COVID-19, research shows.

Read more at Axios.

A month after officially recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an updated COVID-19 vaccination, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen rolled up her sleeve Wednesday in Los Angeles for the latest shot.

At a mobile clinic operated at Stovall Terrace Apartments, where many low-income seniors reside, Cohen and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer touted the importance of the updated vaccine, which is formulated to target an Omicron subvariant that was dominant earlier this year: XBB.1.5.

“October is the right time to get vaccinated,” Cohen said. “As we get into late fall and winter … what we expect is to see more COVID circulation in November, December and January.”

Read more at Los Angeles Times.

It’s like clockwork: first comes a brisk fall breeze, then comes the public health push to get a flu shot. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s messaging this year might look a little different from previous vaccination seasons. The agency has launched a messaging campaign dubbed “Wild to Mild” that uses adorable critters to illustrate how a vaccine can tame a bout with the flu by reducing its strength from that of an elephant or a lion to that of a mouse or a kitten.

The framing might come as a surprise to those used to a blunter way of talking about vaccines: get vaccinated or get sick. But Wild to Mild is designed to be a more honest, nuanced portrayal of the benefits of the influenza vaccine, which scientists have long recognized is better at reducing serious infections than at preventing infection altogether.

Read more at Scientific American.

A new study has an encouraging message for Americans who shy away from Covid shots because of worries about side effects: The chills, fatigue, headache and malaise that can follow vaccination may be signs of a vigorous immune response.

People who had those side effects after the second dose of a Covid vaccine had more antibodies against the coronavirus at one month and six months after the shot, compared with those who did not have symptoms, according to the new study. Increases in skin temperature and heart rate also signaled higher antibody levels.

Read more at The New York Times.

State health officials are urging Coloradans to protect themselves, their loved ones, and our communities this fall and winter by getting lifesaving seasonal vaccines. It appears the flu season is arriving early this year and between that, a COVID-19 virus continuing to mutate, and  Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) — we could be sneezing and coughing very soon.

Anyone aged six months and older can get an annual flu vaccine, as well as an updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine. The best time to get both vaccines is now, ideally before the end of October.

Read more at Ark Valley Voice.

Peter Hotez is no stranger to scientific backlash. The esteemed pediatrician and vaccinologist has been working to develop vaccines for neglected tropical diseases for decades and has encountered fierce opposition to his work. But in recent years the backlash has gained momentum and spread beyond vaccines to science and scientists in general.

Hotez, who is dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, chronicles this movement in his new book The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science. The book traces Hotez’s experiences battling the false belief that vaccines cause autism (a condition that his daughter has), the highly partisan backlash to the COVID vaccines (a low-cost version of which Hotez and his colleagues helped develop) and the authoritarian roots of the antiscience movement.

Read more at Scientific American.

It’s the end of an era for a once-critical pandemic document: The ubiquitous white COVID-19 vaccination cards are being phased out.

Now that COVID-19 vaccines are not being distributed by the federal government, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped printing new cards.

The federal government shipped more than 980 million cards between late 2020, when the first vaccines came out, through May 10, according to the latest available data from the CDC.

Read more at ABC.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized Novavax’s updated Covid-19 vaccine, giving Americans seeking to update their protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus another option.

Though the FDA’s green light came three weeks after the approvals for the updated Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech shots, it contained some welcome news for the Gaithersburg, Md.-based company, which has struggled to claim a share of the now dwindling Covid vaccine market — globally and within the United States.

Read more at STAT.