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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced eight members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, populated mainly by critics of the nation’s COVID-19 vaccine policies or those who don’t specialize in vaccine science. (DeGroot, Raman and Hellmann, 6/11)

For more than a half-century, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has relied on outside experts to guide the agency’s recommendations on how vaccines should be used to prevent the spread of infectious disease. That task will now fall to a panel that includes several individuals who’ve either been openly critical of vaccines or who have scant infectious disease expertise. (Lawrence, Herper, Cueto, Cooney, Joseph, Payne and Branswell, 6/11)

Dr. Edwin Asturias found out Monday he had been fired from his volunteer position on a federal vaccine advisory committee the way the rest of the country did: He read about it in an op-ed written by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The official notice — a two-sentence email, he said — arrived later in the afternoon. (Ingold, 6/12)

Moderna Inc. is in discussions with large drugmakers and financial firms to get funding for some late-stage vaccine trials as it works to develop its product portfolio while cutting costs. ... The biotech company is seeking outside deals as it navigates major changes to vaccine policy under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and declining sales of its Covid shot. (Smith, 6/11)

As summer brings another rise in COVID-19 infections, patients across Asia, Europe and North America are reporting a searing sore throat so intense it has earned a dramatic nickname: “razor blade throat.” Though not a new symptom, the phenomenon has gained fresh attention amid the spread of a fast-moving Omicron subvariant, formally known as NB.1.8.1 and colloquially as “Nimbus.” Patients in China and elsewhere describe the pain as akin to “swallowing shattered glass,” with some saying they’ve been left unable to speak, eat, or even stay hydrated. (Vaziri, 6/11)

A new study from UCLA researchers has found that while people with COVID-19 symptoms typically recovered physically within three months, many continued to struggle with mental well-being for up to nine months. Even a year later, 1 in 5 participants still reported poor overall health. Published Tuesday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, the study tracked more than 1,400 individuals who experienced COVID-like symptoms between December 2020 and August 2022. About 75% of the participants tested positive for the virus. Over a year, researchers surveyed them every three months on key aspects of health-related quality of life, including sleep, fatigue, cognitive function and social engagement. (Vaziri, 6/10)

A 2022 survey of more than 1,000 healthcare providers (HCPs) at US college medical centers reveals that less than half routinely check the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination histories of most female patients. Last week in BMC Public Health, University of Rhode Island-led researchers described their survey of 1,159 nurse practitioners (NPs), physicians, and physician assistants about their HPV screening practices for women. (Van Beusekom, 6/11)

Iowa has announced its second measles case, an adult male from the eastern part of the state who was vaccinated and whose travel history is still under investigation. This is the third measles case in Iowa this year. Iowa last identified measles in 2019. Health officials in Montana's Gallatin County also confirmed two more measles cases, including one person who was exposed to an earlier case and another who likely acquired the virus through community transmission. ... The county now has 12 cases of measles this year. (Soucheray, 6/11)