Beth Mole

United States

Senior Health Reporter at Ars Technica

Senior Health Reporter at @ArsTechnica. PhD in microbiology. Microbes, infectious diseases, public health, questionable puns. Find me @bethmariem.bsky.social

Articles

CDC contradicts RFK Jr. by still recommending COVID vaccine for kids

1 week ago | arstechnica.com | Beth Mole

Mixed messages only add to uncertainty about vaccine access for kids, pregnant individuals. Beth Mole – May 30, 2025 4:28 pm | The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday updated its immunization schedules for children and adults to partially reflect the abrupt changes announced by health secretary and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this week.
RFK Jr.‘s fluoride ban would ruin 25 million kids’ teeth, cost $9.8 billion

1 week ago | arstechnica.com | Beth Mole

The modeling estimates don't account for other costs, like parents' lost work. Beth Mole – May 30, 2025 11:16 am | Once hailed as a triumph of public health, water fluoridation is now under intense attack in the US. Despite decades of data proving its efficacy at protecting teeth from decay—particularly children's teeth—two states have now banned the use of fluoride in public water, and communities around the country have followed suit or are considering doing the same.
RFK Jr. yanks pandemic vaccine funding as Moderna reports positive results

1 week ago | technewstube.com | Beth Mole

Tech News Tube is a real time news feed of the latest technology news headlines.Follow all of the top tech sites in one place, on the web or your mobile device.
RFK Jr. cancels millions in funding for pandemic bird flu vaccine

1 week ago | arstechnica.com | Beth Mole

HHS said it pulled funding for testing because the shots are "under-tested." Beth Mole – May 29, 2025 12:03 pm | The Department of Health and Human Services—under the control of anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—has canceled millions of dollars in federal funding awarded to Moderna to produce an mRNA vaccine against influenza viruses with pandemic potential, including the H5N1 bird flu currently sweeping US poultry and dairy cows.
Healthy man goes camping-lands in ICU for 40 days with respiratory failure

1 week ago | arstechnica.com | Beth Mole

The man was in Argentina when he fell ill, but such cases occur in the US, too. Beth Mole – May 28, 2025 5:56 pm | An otherwise-healthy 52-year-old office worker showed up to a hospital emergency department in Buenos Aires with an unshakable fever he developed the week before. Besides the high temperature, he seemed fine. So, after testing negative for COVID-19, doctors sent him home with supportive care. But the fever didn't go away.
RFK Jr. revokes COVID shot recommendations for kids, during pregnancy

1 week ago | technewstube.com | Beth Mole

Tech News Tube is a real time news feed of the latest technology news headlines.Follow all of the top tech sites in one place, on the web or your mobile device.
Anti-vaccine advocate RFK Jr. axes COVID shot recs for pregnancy, kids

1 week ago | arstechnica.com | Beth Mole

Kennedy's move may make it harder for kids and pregnant people to get vaccinated. Beth Mole – May 27, 2025 1:08 pm | Anti-vaccine advocate and health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has unilaterally revoked federal recommendations for healthy children and pregnant people to get COVID-19 booster shots.
Uncertainty loomed as FDA advisors met to discuss this year’s COVID shot

1 week ago | businessandamerica.com | Beth Mole

Calling it a “practical question,” he asked, “If we were to change strains, can we assume that age-specific licensure won’t change for any of these [vaccine] products?” Currently, COVID-19 boosters are accessible to those aged 6 months and up. Weir reiterated that there was no answer.
CDC can no longer help prevent lead poisoning in children, state officials say

1 week ago | businessandamerica.com | Beth Mole

While Milwaukee continues to struggle, a Stat report Friday hints at losses yet to come. Looking back at the national scandal of lead-contaminated apple-sauce pouches, Stat reported that at least six of the CDC scientists and experts who worked on that nationwide poisoning event are gone. The poisonings were first revealed in cases in Hickory, North Carolina, where officials relied on help from the CDC to track down the source.
CDC can no longer help prevent lead poisoning in children, state officials say

2 weeks ago | arstechnica.com | Beth Mole

Under Trump, the CDC's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program was cut. Beth Mole – May 23, 2025 11:54 am | Amid the brutal cuts across the federal government under the Trump administration, perhaps one of the most gutting is the loss of experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who respond to lead poisoning in children.