No. 85 of 108
September 6, 2025
“U.S. States Start Sharp Divisions on Vaccines” – headline in Scientific American online. Florida moves to remove all school vaccine requirements. A West Coast Health Alliance (California, Washington, Oregon) has formed to coordinate public policy, distribution of science-based information, and insure access to vaccines. Massachusetts, New York and other states are acting to require insurers to cover vaccines. Talks are underway for a northeast states’ consortium. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association have spoken out in favor of vaccines and warning of public health consequences in limiting access. Medical groups have been discussing ordering vaccines directly from manufacturers. There has been an increase in measles and whooping cough, also known as “vaccine preventable diseases”, as vaccine skepticism has risen. Secretary Kennedy “defiantly holds his ground” at a tumultuous Senate hearing in support of skepticism and the removal of public health professionals at the Center for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health.
In an era of sharp divisions and sharp elbows, we are counting on leaders to move boldly, and to bridge and persuade as they go, especially in the face of rulers who double-down, deny and destroy. The “bridge and persuade” part is extraordinarily important. It is true that skepticism is an ism all peoples are susceptible to, irrespective of ideology. Our muscles are flabby in the department of common good, so accustomed are we to the part of the dream of individual success and rights, as in “don’t I have the right to (fill in the blank)”? If you have counted on governments to enforce the common good, understand the tension between “enforce” and “common good”. We are in an era of sharp divisions, sharp elbows, and realignment. Lean into the realignment being one of bridging, persuading, and embracing the common good.