The Trump admin has cancelled the panels that approve NIH grants, & is banning scientists from communicating with the public, attending conferences, & hiring.
NIH is the world’s largest funder of biomedical research. This will halt discovery of lifesaving treatments. Devastating
The Trump administration’s NIH freezes do not only affect federal science agencies. NIH grants fund research at universities and many other institutions. Halting NIH grant reviews sabotages important scientific research everywhere.
NIH-funded research does not only benefit people in the US. Researchers with NIH grants often collaborate closely with scientists around the world. And the vaccines, drugs, and treatments developed from NIH-funded research help save the lives of many people all over the globe.
The censorship begins: According to officials, the Trump administration is instructing health agencies including the CDC, FDA, NIH, and HHS to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites and social media posts.
Asking health agencies to pause all external communications is NOT typical protocol for administration changes. Generally website updates, disease case counts, and other typical day-to-day work continues.
In their first term, the Trump administration instructed agencies overseeing environmental policy, such as the EPA, and the Agriculture and Interior departments to cease communicating with the public. In their second term, they appear to be targeting health agencies too.
BREAKING: The United States has recorded its first fatal case of H5N1 bird flu.
The death was reported by the Louisiana Department of Health. The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of a non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds.
Please note that there still is no evidence of person-to-person transmission, which is why public health departments assess the *current* risk as low to the general public. People who work on poultry or dairy farms are most at risk.
Protective measures you can take include:
- Avoiding sick or dead animals
- Avoiding uncooked food product
- Wearing a well-fitting mask, gloves, and other PPE
- Getting your seasonal flu vaccination (to reduce the risk of coinfection)
As a scientist who is the director of science communication for the medical center of a major university, my advice is:
Please don't rely on an economist who has spread misinformation about COVID to advise you about how to effectively message on public health.
Oster's work has been embraced by right-wing think tanks such as the Manhattan Institute and the Cato Institute. Her audience is affluent parents who seek permission to disengage from the social contract and ignore harmful impacts to the working class and people of color.
Here's a horrendous example of COVID misinformation spread by Emily Oster in 2020, which has been proven wrong by research many times since. Please do not listen to any of her advice about public health.
The current admin has failed to adequately address the ongoing and long-term impacts of COVID. They have been rightfully criticized and should continue to be held accountable.
However, a Trump win will make things worse, resulting in many more deaths and people becoming sicker.
Trump will accelerate mask bans, restrict vaccine availability, reduce healthcare access, stop clean air efforts, block Long COVID treatment funding, dismantle health agencies etc.
The outcome of the election will critically impact COVID and public health policy for decades.
What’s tragic is that the CDC’s own study showed that most people are likely to take precautions like wearing a mask when they are alerted that COVID transmission levels are high.
However, most people are unaware of true transmission levels.