Good morning. Today we’re explaining the latest developments on three viruses circulating in the US.
But first, here’s what else is going on:
- Starting Monday, President Trump is banning citizens of Afghanistan, Haiti, and 10 other countries from entering the United States, and visitors from seven others will face restrictions.
- The administration suspended Harvard from a student visa program, effectively banning foreigners from attending, and threatened Columbia’s accreditation for allegedly discriminating against Jewish students.
- Judges blocked the administration from deporting the family of the suspect in the Boulder, Colo., attack and from transferring a Milford High junior whom ICE arrested last weekend. The student’s parents, who are Brazilian, and siblings, who are US citizens, released a video begging ICE to free him.
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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
Measles outbreaks. A canceled effort to develop a bird flu vaccine. An infectious new COVID variant and changing federal guidance about who should get boosted. In recent weeks, drama in D.C. has buried several vaccine-related developments. Today’s newsletter explains what’s new and what it means.
COVID
What’s changed: Last month, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the CDC would no longer recommend that healthy children and healthy pregnant women receive COVID booster shots, altering Biden-era guidance that everyone older than 6 months get boosted annually. The CDC appeared to slightly soften Kennedy’s guidance, saying that healthy kids and pregnant women “may” get boosters if their doctors recommend it.
What it means: The administration has tried to narrow the pool of people it says should get boosted. But where some of the changes reflect reasonable readings of the science, others do not.
Dr. Nirav Shah, a top CDC official during the Biden administration, said experts debate whether younger children should get boosted. When Shah was in government, he recommended it. But many other countries don’t, noting that most young children have a low risk of serious illness. The mRNA technology used in some COVID shots can also have side effects, including a condition called myocarditis that mostly affects boys and young men.
But Shah, who previously led Maine’s CDC and is now at Colby College, says the evidence is much less debatable in the case of pregnant women. Not only are boosters safe and effective for them, but getting them protects babies in utero and up to 6 months old who can’t get vaccinated.
The way Kennedy made the changes has also troubled experts. Normally, health agencies gather outside advisers’ input before making new recommendations. But Kennedy seems to have acted unilaterally. His announcement, made in a minutelong social media video, surprised CDC officials (🎁). “What it suggests is that some of the conclusions are foregone,” Shah said.
Kennedy argues that health experts made mistakes that undermined public trust during the pandemic. Shah acknowledges that, to a point. Some experts, he said, tried to squelch dissenting views or didn’t effectively communicate that scientists’ understanding of COVID would evolve, causing confusion when public health guidance changed. Other experts overstated the risk of outdoor transmission or supported extended school closures that caused severe learning loss while doing little to contain infections (🎁).
But the administration’s approach risks sowing further confusion. Kennedy’s announcement conflicts with an article that two Trump-appointed FDA officials published days earlier, which listed pregnancy as one factor that puts women “at high risk for severe COVID-19.” The fact that Kennedy — who has long spread vaccine misinformation and says he doesn’t “think people should be taking medical advice from me” — made the changes could also corrode trust.
“What worries me is that when we get into another emergency situation, if trust in federal health authorities has waned, that’s a problem,” Shah said.
Meanwhile, COVID keeps evolving. A variant called NB.1.8.1 has recently driven up cases in China and elsewhere. But for now, Shah isn’t hugely concerned. NB.1.8.1 descended from Omicron, a variant that swept the United States in late 2021 and early 2022. So even if cases rise, existing vaccines and antibodies from prior infection will likely help protect against severe illness. The World Health Organization says the new variant “suggests no increased public health risk” so far.
Bird flu
What’s changed: A few months ago, bird flu was spreading rapidly among cows and chickens, killing birds and other animals, and sickening dozens of people. Since then, the outbreak has slowed; the last reported human cases were in February, and only one person has died.
What it means: Bird flu may be seasonal, which could explain the ebb. But another possibility is that cases are going unreported because fewer people are getting tested. In February, the administration fired, and then scrambled to rehire, officials involved in bird flu testing.
Given the uncertainty, some experts have faulted the administration for canceling contracts with Moderna to develop a bird flu vaccine. The effort aimed to adapt the company’s versatile mRNA technology, which Kennedy has repeatedly cast doubt on despite overwhelming evidence of safety. (The FDA approved a new mRNA COVID booster from Moderna last weekend.) Instead, the administration is funding a project aimed at developing a bird flu vaccine using technology similar to seasonal flu shots, which can take longer to produce.
Measles
What’s changed: Cases of the highly contagious virus continue to rise nationwide, but slowly. The largest outbreak, in West Texas, seems to be abating. Three Americans have died this year, all unvaccinated.
What it means: A slowing case rate is good news, although many more people could have gotten sick than the official numbers reflect. The measles vaccine is safe, highly effective, and decades old, but Kennedy was slow to full-throatedly recommend it as the outbreak grew.
🧩 3 Down: Repeat verbatim | ☀️ 90° Hot, humid, and hazy
POINTS OF INTEREST
Boston
- War of words: The US attorney for Massachusetts accused Boston Mayor Michelle Wu of making “reckless and inflammatory statements” about ICE agents. Wu, who criticized the agents for wearing masks, had called them “secret police.”
- Dueling claims: Democratic activists asked a state agency to investigate Josh Kraft’s mayoral campaign for allegedly coordinating with a super PAC. After, Kraft’s campaign accused Wu’s of using public employees and resources.
- Secret proceedings: A closed hearing begins in Boston today to determine whether a former Stoughton police deputy chief should lose his ability to work as an officer over his interactions with Sandra Birchmore.
- Evolving: A Boston nonprofit that launched after George Floyd’s murder is navigating a backlash to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Massachusetts and New England
- Karen Read retrial: The defense called a snowplow driver, who testified that he didn’t see John O’Keefe’s body on the lawn of a Canton home the morning O’Keefe died.
- Market Basket case: Who’s who in the latest grocery chain standoff.
- Proxy fight: Representative Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts is running to become the top Democrat on an important House committee. His challengers include younger lawmakers.
- Gun rights: Massachusetts has one of the country’s strictest gun-control laws. But guns are ubiquitous in some towns — including ones that voted Democratic last November.
- Mount Katahdin deaths: Rescuers found the bodies of a New York woman and her father after they went missing while hiking in Maine last weekend.
Trump administration
- One big bill: Trump’s tax cut legislation would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, a nonpartisan congressional agency found. Trump has falsely attacked it as biased.
- Latest salvo: Elon Musk urged Republican lawmakers to “KILL” Trump’s tax bill. Some who oppose the current version sided with Musk; others downplayed his opposition.
- Weaponizing government: Trump directed his administration to investigate Joe Biden and his aides, alleging they hid Biden’s decline and that some of his actions weren’t legally valid. (AP)
- Russia-Ukraine war: Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin and said the Russian leader had pledged to retaliate against Ukraine’s drone attack on Russian airfields last weekend. (CNN)
- Israel-Hamas war: The United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. (Times of Israel)
The Nation and the World
- Trans rights: Nebraska’s governor signed a law banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports. About half of states have similar bans. (AP)
- Overstaying their welcome: About 400,000 tourists who stayed in the United States longer than their visas allow — like the suspect in the Boulder, Colo., attack did — are living in the country illegally.
- Explosive find: Officials in Cologne, Germany, temporarily evacuated 20,000 residents after construction work unearthed three unexploded US bombs from World War II. Experts defused them in about an hour. (CBS)
BESIDE THE POINT
By Teresa Hanafin
💧 More rain this weekend: Either Boston is in a toxic relationship with the weather, Beth Teitell writes, or the universe doesn’t want us to have brunch outdoors.
🎵 Rick Astley has the last laugh: “Never Gonna Give You Up” has hit 1 billion streams on Spotify. Rickroll! (Facebook)
🦈 Films inspired by “Jaws”: From asthmatic sharks to 18-foot bears, here are some of the movies that paid homage to Steven Spielberg’s classic.
🐔 Chicken wars: Mickey D’s is bringing back the Snack Wrap after nine years because of demand — and the success of similar wraps from Burger King and Wendy’s. (AP)
🏠 3 summer home rehabs: In downtown Burlington, Vt., a modern addition on a fixer-upper capitalized on the view of Lake Champlain. In Bourne, a classic Cape was a multigenerational getaway that needed a refresh. And just outside Sunapee, N.H., vintage touches gave a home a “little cottage in the woods” vibe.
⛱️ Beach etiquette: Don’t encroach, block views, shake sand, disrespect wildlife, or do other things that are hallmarks of an obnoxious beachgoer. (HuffPost)
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This newsletter was edited and produced by Teresa Hanafin.
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