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If you think last week's decision by the federal government to halt $500 million in funding for vaccine development projects that use mRNA technology will only affect COVID vaccines, think again. ... The science behind it is also being studied for a wide range of other uses, from fighting cancer to treating autoimmune conditions and more. Health experts have criticized the move to defund this research, pointing to the impact it will have on America's ability to develop breakthroughs against deadly or debilitating diseases. (Moniuszko, 8/13)

Public health experts are pushing back against doubts and criticisms about the hepatitis B vaccine spread by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies. Since overhauling the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), Kennedy and his supporters have questioned the vaccine's safety and the need for a birth dose. Those assertions could erode public confidence in a vaccine credited with virtually eliminating childhood transmission of the virus in the U.S., health professionals told MedPage Today. (McCreary, 8/13)

The Trump administration’s COVID-revenge campaign has laid the groundwork for Kennedy’s larger agenda. (Wu, 8/13)

Mercyhealth, which operates hospitals and clinics in Illinois and Wisconsin, has agreed to pay $1 million to employees it either terminated or subjected to a wage deduction because they refused to comply with the health system’s COVID-19 vaccine policy, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Mercyhealth also offered to reinstate the employees it terminated. (8/13)

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was behind President Donald Trump’s highly unusual decision last week to rehire a vaccine regulator he’d just fired at the urging of MAGA influencer Laura Loomer. Wiles’ intervention in getting Vinay Prasad’s job back, as described by two senior administration officials granted anonymity to discuss sensitive details, followed pleas from both Prasad’s boss, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They insisted that Prasad is part of Kennedy’s broader “make America healthy again” movement and integral to the Trump coalition. (Lim, Burns and Rohn, 8/14)

Disruptions to national vaccine recommendations under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are starting to reverberate across Massachusetts, threatening the state’s access to COVID shots just as the annual season for respiratory viruses — and vaccines to protect against them — approaches. Federal approval for flu and RSV shots was granted only in the last few days, weeks later than is typical, and health officials are still waiting to learn whether the Trump administration will recommend any vaccinations for COVID. Insurers rely on that guidance to decide what doses they will cover. (Laughlin, 8/13)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination has nearly eliminated infection with the high-risk HPV strains 16/18, which cause over 70% of cervical cancer, in Danish women immunized as adolescents, suggests a study published in Eurosurveillance. (Van Beusekom, 8/13)