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Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he is “reviewing” whether to remove all members of an influential advisory committee that offers guidance about preventive health services. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is composed of medical experts who serve four-year terms on a volunteer basis. They are appointed by the HHS secretary and are supposed to be shielded from political influence. (Weixel, 8/4)

For roughly seven years, Kaylee Abbott has often quietly confronted the impact of her decision to forgo routine vaccinations for her two children. It has prompted her to switch pediatricians on numerous occasions and at times made her feel like a pariah upon disclosing her children’s vaccination status. But since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was placed at the helm of U.S. health institutions, Abbott, 46, feels as though she can finally be more open about her skepticism toward vaccines. (Siddiqui and Essley Whyte, 8/5)

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates expressed concern Monday about growing vaccine skepticism in the United States, suggesting that the exporting of claims by the anti-vaccine movement will likely extract a bigger death toll internationally than domestically and could also put the possibility of ridding the world of measles permanently out of reach. (Branswell, 8/4)

JN.1-targeted mRNA boosters developed for the 2024-2025 COVID-19 season were effective and safe in Danish seniors, according to two register-based cohort studies that suggested Europe may have selected the better vaccine strain. ... The U.S. took a different approach, authorizing or approving KP.2-targeted mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna and a JN.1-targeted vaccine from Novavax for the 2024-2025 campaign. (Rudd, 8/4)

Nearly 6 of 10 vaccine-eligible US children hospitalized for COVID-19 from 2022 to 2024 had at least one underlying medical condition, and less than 4% were current with their vaccinations, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-led researchers reported late last week in Pediatrics. The team analyzed data from the COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) from October 2022 to April 2024 on demographic factors, underlying illnesses, COVID-19 vaccination status, and clinical outcomes of children ages 6 months to 17 years admitted to more than 275 hospitals in 12 states. (Van Beusekom, 8/4)

The number of people with COVID-19 in the U.S. is low but increasing, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data released Friday. COVID-19 is trending up in many mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southern, and West Coast states. The agency said infections are “growing or likely growing” in 40 states, based on emergency department visit data as of July 29. Infections were unchanged in nine states. The weekly percentage of emergency department visits among people diagnosed with COVID-19 is low, but growing, the CDC said. (Weixel, 8/4)

A group of public health leaders called on the CDC and its new director Susan Monarez, PhD, to protect critical overdose prevention programs across the U.S. In a media briefing Monday afternoon, the group, convened by the nonprofit Safe States Alliance, spoke out against a reported proposition to cut or freeze $140 million, about half of the $279 million in grants to states, territories, and localities administered by the Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) program. (Henderson, 8/4)