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People all over the world lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against killer diseases like measles and polio during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from UNICEF. In 52 of the 55 countries surveyed, the public perception of vaccines for children declined between 2019 and 2021, the UN agency said. (Rigby and Farge, 4/19)

An expert panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccination policy informally endorsed a plan Wednesday to offer an additional Covid-19 booster shot to people 65 and older as well as people who are immunocompromised, and to simplify the Covid vaccine schedule. (Branswell, 4/19)

President Joe Biden had the power to require employees of federal contractors to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday, throwing out a judge's ruling that had blocked the mandate in Arizona. (Wiessner, 4/19)

Public health messages that focus on protecting others are more effective at increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates than messages focused on protecting oneself, according to research published yesterday in PNAS Nexus. US researchers surveyed more than 3,000 Americans on a visual vaccination campaign. Each of three images described promoting COVID-19 vaccination as a way of protecting oneself, one's circle of friends and family, or one's community. A fourth image simply read "get the vaccine." (Soucheray, 4/19)

Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of a storied U.S. political dynasty, announced on Wednesday a long-shot bid to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. Kennedy, 69, faces little chance of success, but his campaign could serve as a platform to advance claims that childhood immunizations pose health risks -- a theory that has been discredited by multiple scientific reviews. (Sullivan, 4/19)

Charlie McCone has been struggling with the symptoms of long COVID since he was first infected, in March 2020. Most of the time, he is stuck on his couch or in his bed, unable to stand for more than 10 minutes without fatigue, shortness of breath, and other symptoms flaring up. But when I spoke with him on the phone, he seemed cogent and lively. “I can appear completely fine for two hours a day,” he said. No one sees him in the other 22.  He can leave the house to go to medical appointments, but normally struggles to walk around the block. He can work at his computer for an hour a day. “It’s hell, but I have no choice,” he said. Like many long-haulers, McCone is duct-taping himself together to live a life—and few see the tape. (Yong, 4/19)

A conflict has developed between Gov. Kevin Stitt and the Legislature over $600 million in federal funds originally intended to help the state during the COVID crisis. The money came in 2020 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which waived certain Medicaid requirements and conditions to allow people on Medicaid to continue their health coverage during the pandemic. (Denwalt, 4/19)