3553 - Trump and RFK Jr's Assault on Your Health w/ Dr. Kristin Lyerly

Summary

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The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode 3553: Trump and RFK Jr's Assault on Your Health w/ Dr. Kristin Lyerly (January 6, 2026)

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Episode Overview

This episode, hosted by Sam Seder and Emma Vigeland, features a wide-ranging conversation with Dr. Kristin Lyerly, OB-GYN and Chair of the Board for the Committee to Protect Health Care. The focus is on the Trump administration’s rollback of CDC childhood vaccination recommendations, RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine ideology, and the broader right-wing assault on public health. Dr. Lyerly provides insight into the implications, context, and dangers of these policy changes during one of the worst flu seasons in decades.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. The Political Context: Trump and RFK Jr.’s Health Policies

Timestamps: 05:41–18:46

• Sam summarizes breaking news and political moves:

  • Trump pardons all January 6th rioters ("Some of them Nazis. I mean, just based upon their Heil Hitlers." — Sam, 05:39).
  • Trump’s erratic Venezuela policy: Threatens military intervention but appears hampered by personal feuds and a lack of coherent strategy (09:31–12:53).
  • Speculation over Trump administration’s focus on Venezuela being more about pleasing wealthy donors than coherent foreign policy (12:58).

• Sam & co-hosts’ take:

  • U.S. foreign interventions increasingly resemble mob-like carve-ups of the world ("It's like a mafia… it's that type of thing." — Sam, 09:41).
  • The policy incoherence is apparent, suspected to be driven more by neocon wishful thinking and Trump's personal grievances than strategy.
  • Humorous but biting critique of sycophantic Trump allies, excerpting a Sean Hannity interview and mocking the melodramatic fawning over Trump (15:03–18:46).

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2. CDC’s Rollback of Childhood Vaccination Recommendations

Interview Segment: Dr. Kristin Lyerly
Timestamps: 26:52–55:54

A. Scope of the Crisis

• One of the worst U.S. flu seasons in 25 years (26:58).
• Increases in measles, whooping cough, and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

B. New CDC Guidelines & Process

• CDC reduces recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11.

• Spacing changes decrease vaccine effectiveness in young children.

• No transparent process—decisions apparently politically motivated.

  • “What happened yesterday was literally just, this is what we're doing. There were no resources or data. There was no evidence. It was just this change.” — Dr. Lyerly, 29:03

• Changes are justified using misleading international comparisons, ignoring the U.S.'s lack of universal healthcare and social supports.

C. Public Health vs. Individual Burden

• Shift from opt-out to de facto opt-in: burden is on parents, many of whom lack the resources or knowledge to make informed decisions.
  • “We have moved from a more or less opt-out type of situation... It seems like we've now flipped… it is now incumbent upon you to learn what you don't know, which... is very difficult.” — Sam, 37:22

D. Specific Vaccine Rollbacks

• CDC will no longer recommend:

  • Annual flu shots for children.
  • Hepatitis A vaccine for 12–23 months.
  • Routine meningococcal vaccines for adolescents (except high-risk groups).
  • Rotavirus vaccine reduced to parental discretion.

• Lyerly details the public health consequences:

  • "Get ready to see more brain infections in young people that are obviously devastating... People will die." — Dr. Lyerly, 41:03

• These diseases—meningitis, flu, hepatitis, rotavirus—disproportionately threaten children in communities with less healthcare access.

E. Systemic Inequities and Health Access

• Lack of universal healthcare and recent Medicaid/ACA cuts increase risk.
• Privileged families with concierge doctors can navigate nuance; most cannot.
• "Clean water equals vaccines in this scenario, we have to make sure that we've got the floor for everybody." — Dr. Lyerly, 45:19

F. Insurance & Legal Uncertainty

• Unclear which vaccines private or public insurers will continue to cover.
• Ongoing legal challenges—administration may have violated the Administrative Procedures Act.

G. Public Health vs. Personal Liberties

• Public health is about collective, not just individual, benefit:

  • "Vaccines are a victim of their own success, which gives us psychological freedom to think that it doesn't matter… But it does. Because if we're not all pitching in… it makes the most vulnerable amongst us more vulnerable." — Dr. Lyerly, 35:34

• Misinformation spreads in the vacuum, especially on social media.

H. Advice for Listeners

• Look to medical professional groups for guidance (AAP, ACOG, AMA).
• Political action is key:
  • "We can't trust what's happening on a federal level right now. We need to replace these leaders with people who actually have the best interest of Americans in mind." — Dr. Lyerly, 54:43

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the CDC change process:

  • “They reduced the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11... with very little thought, very clearly politically motivated.” — Dr. Kristin Lyerly [27:47]
  • "What happened yesterday was literally just, this is what we're doing... There was no evidence. It was just this change." — Dr. Kristin Lyerly [29:03]

• On cumulative impact:

  • "Millions of Americans are going to go without health care and then they turn around and say you have to talk to your doctor in order to get these, these preventive measures...It doesn't work that way." — Dr. Lyerly [31:29]

• On personal responsibility rhetoric:

  • “It is now incumbent upon you to learn what you don't know, which of course is very difficult.” — Sam Seder [37:27]

• On public health:

  • “Vaccines are a victim of their own success... if we’re not all pitching in... it makes the most vulnerable among us more vulnerable.” — Dr. Lyerly [35:34]

• On economic and political factors:

  • “Insurance companies and hospital systems are just thinking about making it to the end of the year... not actually investing in your health care in the future of American healthcare.” — Dr. Lyerly [52:29]

• Recommended action:

  • “Look to those professional organizations, the American Medical Association. They will have this information for you that you can trust. Because we are doctors and healthcare providers and we actually care.” — Dr. Lyerly [54:43]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 05:41 — Trump pardons January 6th rioters
• 09:31 — Trump’s Venezuela policy and motivations
• 12:58 — Neocons and billionaires influencing foreign policy
• 15:03 — Sean Hannity interview critique
• 26:52 — Dr. Kristin Lyerly joins: The vaccine rollback explained
• 31:29 — Policy impacts: health access, inequality
• 37:22 — Opt-in vs. opt-out vaccination model
• 40:25 — Details on vaccine removals and health impacts
• 46:16 — Rotavirus and RSV vaccine dangers
• 50:23 — Insurance uncertainties and legal context
• 54:43 — What listeners can do: professional guidance and political engagement
• 56:18 — Wrap-up and call for Medicare for All

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Tone and Style

• The hosts blend irreverence and biting humor with serious, in-depth analysis.
• Dr. Lyerly speaks with both urgency and clarity, conveying professional and personal concern.
• The episode balances accessibility for lay listeners with specialist detail for engaged audiences.

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Takeaway

This episode emphasizes that the Trump/RFK Jr. effort to reduce childhood vaccinations is a political move with dire public health consequences, exacerbated by systemic healthcare inequities and lack of universal access. Dr. Lyerly encourages both immediate reliance on trusted medical authorities outside the CDC and long-term political engagement to restore science-based health policy.

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For listeners:

• Trust information from professional medical organizations, not the politicized CDC.
• Support and advocate for systemic political change to protect public health infrastructure.
• Be aware of how changes in vaccination policy can directly endanger vulnerable populations.

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Transcript

[A]

So folks, the holidays are behind us. We still got a lot of winter ahead of us. My God. But let's be honest, it is a tough time of the year to start. New resolutions. I started off this year with no, absolutely like abusing cookies in the office and it fell apart yesterday in a big way.

[B]

Abusing. See anyway.

[A]

I just had too many cookies yesterday. I had to get them out of the office. But the point is a lot of folks are taking breaks from drinking dry January and if that's you, good on you. That's not easy. Especially when it's dark at 4:30 in the afternoon. Everything feels like a lot as it were. Making healthy changes takes effort and having the right support actually matters. That's where our friends at Sunset Lake Sabade come in. Right now they're offering 25% off all of their gummies. When you use the code JAN26AS in 1-26-2026. JAN26, that's J A N2 6, no spaces. The gummies are great. They're great for helping you to go to sleep. They, they have some sleep time gummies. They've got some gummies with some t, say 1 milligram which is, you know, just enough to make you feel like you're having fun but not so much that you're in the corner drooling or anything like that.

[C]

Right.

[A]

They also have just some straight Sabadai gummies that are fantastic as well. And I have found that, you know, one, one of those 1 milligram thse I don't need to drink. I'm just, I'm done. And there's. And frankly don't need the calories from beer or anything like that. So if you're winding down after work, you're skipping that bedtime nightcap or just trying to take the edge off without alcohol. Saba dad gummies can be the easy alcohol free way to relax. Head over to sunsetlike sabade.com use the code JAN26 that's J A N 26 no spaces to save 25% on their full lineup of gummies to support your new year wellness goals and dry January aspirations. Sale ends January 7th at 11:59pm Eastern. See their site for full terms and conditions. That means you get about 24 hours. Get on it. And now time for the show the Majority Report with Sam Cedar. It is Tuesday, January 6, 2026. My name is Sam Seder. This is the five time award winning Majority Report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, Downtown Brooklyn, USA. On the program today, Dr. Kristen Lierly, OB GYN and Chair of the Board of Committee to Protect Health Care. On the CDC assault on vaccines. This as flu. There's a flu. Hits its highest levels in 25 years. Across the country. Meanwhile, Trump floats the idea of a taxpayer bailout for oil firms developing Venezuelan oil. Yep. US Allies warn Trump hands off Greenland Health department to freeze $10 billion in funding to five Democratic states. No point in having a budget. They're not distributing funds that have been allocated. Republican House member Doug La Malfa suddenly dies California's first District, further shrinking the Republicans advantage in the house. Meanwhile, only one in three Americans support Maduro's ouster. Trump regime sends 2,000 federal goons to Minneapolis. 2,000. They have 10,000 marines off the coast of Venezuela, ostensibly to control that country. DOJ admits it still has millions of unreleased Epstein files. And Department of Homeland Security has plans for massive FEMA cuts. Corporation Public broadcasting shuts down because it has no more funds. Graham Platner announces Q4 fundraising numbers. $5 million average donation somewhere in the high 20s. $28 or something like that. Meanwhile, happy January 6th. Donald Trump pardoned all of those rioters.

[D]

No harm, no foul.

[A]

Some of them Nazis. I mean, just based upon their Heil Hitlers.

[B]

All of them patriots, though.

[A]

All patriots.

[B]

Such a killjoy.

[D]

Other P words as well.

[A]

All this and more on today's Majority Report. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.

[B]

It is News Day Tuesday.

[A]

News day Tuesday. The first newsday Tuesday of 2026. So things are getting pretty exciting around here. I also want to just note first day, big problems here. Yes.

[B]

Who is that?

[A]

Who is that? Oh, you know who it is.

[B]

No, I don't.

[A]

Oh, yes, you do.

[E]

Who?

[A]

Dopical.

[B]

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. The guy who recircumcised himself when converting to Judaism.

[D]

Primetime do capill.

[A]

Well, I mean, to be fair, I do that whenever the Patriots win the super bowl. Seven times.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

Hey, a lot to work with. Maybe six.

[B]

I can't remember.

[A]

Anyways, I wanted to note that it's been two days and I've done 2026 correctly every time.

[B]

No, I didn't even remind you today.

[A]

Nope.

[B]

Which you resented yesterday.

[A]

I. Listen, I'm on top of this on day one. I can get it. It's going to be like day four and five. It's going to be a problem.

[D]

Is it going to be May and you're going to be doing it in 2025?

[A]

Without a doubt. No, I. It's just, I'M you know, I'm sunsetting, so that's. If you're going to time travel, can you go forward? Yeah, exactly.

[B]

I know, I know. What's the stuff that Michael Jackson was on that just made him sleep for like two weeks at a time? I feel like I need some of that.

[A]

Oh, no, that's, that's propanol. Yeah.

[B]

Just kidding. I'm joking.

[A]

That actually, I mean, now that you mention depends. I mean, I've, I've told this story a couple of times, but when you get a colonoscopy on the west coast, they use profanol a lot more than they do on the east coast in terms of using the profanol. And, and it has to do with like insurance coverage. I'm not going to get deep into that, but I had it once and I'll tell you, like for three days afterwards, you feel great. Yeah, I mean, well, I understand.

[B]

Not advocating for anyone to do it.

[A]

No.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

It's not like trying to, it's not like you can pick some up at the bodega, but. All right, let's get into this. It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no plan for Venezuela, or I should say that Donald Trump does not actually have a plan for Venezuela. It seems like there's a bunch of other people who have plans for Venezuela and that they seem to be not necessarily all on the same page. There's been reporting, and we talked about at least testimony that was delivered in 2019 and then ostensibly some reporting from what's been on, you know, videos that have been on Russian telegram channels that Putin had encouraged Trump to adopt a modern day Monroe Doctrine or the Don Row Doctrine as Trump has been talking about. And the idea being that, look, we're in a multipolar world and you don't have to mess around with China, you don't have to mess around with Russia. You have to, you just essentially create Fortress America. You control and dominate the Western hemisphere and you'll have all the resources you need. You'll have shorter supply lines. All of that sounds all well and.

[B]

Good and let me do what I would like with Ukraine. It is my territory. You know, why don't we just kind of put this, all of this aside? We're all in this together, right?

[C]

We'll carve up the world.

[A]

Well, it's what, it's like a mafia. It's basically like a mafia territory. You know, I've been watching, rewatching a little bit of the Wire, I mean, and it's that type of thing. Now, the, the biggest problem for the execution of that, however, is that this is not 1935, this is not 1965, this is not 1895. These countries no longer are so easily dominated by the US in the way that it would have been 50 or 60 years ago because there's so many weapons there. And so with 10,000 Marines off the coast of Venezuela, the United States is not in a position to invade and take over Venezuela. And it is unclear. It became clear, I think, to Trump, or at least Trump was. You know, there was a lot of neocons who were like, oh, we're going to put in Maria Karina Machado and get rid of the, the Chavistas, you know, the Hugo Chavez Marxist folks. And then, you know, she's going to open up. I mean, she literally said six months ago, I'm going to give the oil back to the Americans, essentially. And so I think there were people in the administration. Lindsey Graham reportedly was very encouraging on the, on this coup and kidnapping of Maduro, but I think he thought that Maria Karina Machado would get the, the nod from Trump and his neocon fantasies would be carried out. But Trump seems to have basically just stopped in part because some people suggest that Trump and Trump mentioned this today, apparently, or yesterday, that he was going after Maduro because Maduro was mocking him by doing his dance.

[C]

His dance.

[B]

And if you can believe that, then you can believe that he would be so spiteful towards Maria Karina Machado that he wouldn't impose her as the leader of Venezuela because, like the practical realities don't stop these people. I mean, they're behaving in a very unhinged manner altogether. We read in the pack of the CIA, briefed the administration and said that she wouldn't have the infrastructure to take over the government. And that's true. Like she has been in since the early 2000s in the sphere of right wing neocons, NGOs here in the west, getting these awards. Right. I mean, there's a cultural memory in Venezuela where people understand these are the Yankees trying to steal our resources and imposing their preferred candidate like they did with Guaido and like they've done across Latin America. And so like this hadn't stopped them before. She'd been enormously explicit. But the point is, is like the arrogance of the neocons is paramount here. So why didn't they try?

[A]

Well, I mean, tried.

[B]

Now we know the answer. It could just be Trump's pettiness.

[A]

Well, and we should also say too, and later in the program we, we will dig into sort of the, the theory that perhaps this was just one of the biggest winners was this billionaire hedge fund guy, Paul Singer, who essentially bought the US Portion of Chevron, which was the Venezuelan oil company, and bought it for, you know, $0.50, $0.30 on the dollar. And this is a way to make him, you know, Citco, excuse me, very, very wealthy. And. But before we get there, here we have Sean Hannity. And Sean Hannity has always been essentially a Republican operative. He had a very good relationship with Donald Trump because he kisses people's asses. And, and he was basically a, you know, a main advisor to Trump. Probably still the case, but everybody's afraid of Trump. They don't. They want to convince him the way that, you know, where Trump comes to it himself. And it's quite clear that all these neocons, I'm talking like Lindsey Graham and, you know, whoever other neocons who are sort of interested in the notion of, of getting rid of the Marxist in this area and maintaining our hegemony insofar as we have open policy for US Corporations there, got into Hannity's ear and we're like, dude, you're the only one who can save this. Now we need Maria Karina Machado to get the, the nod from Trump. You got to do your magic and watch out, like, desperate. Hannity is in there, like, not the.

[B]

Only desperate person in this clip. I mean, this is humiliating on so many different levels.

[A]

Watch this.

[F]

And it's not very usual that people will dedicate the Nobel Peace Prize to the leader of a different country and say publicly he deserves this more than I do. But you did that.

[E]

Let me be very clear. As soon as I learned that we had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I dedicated to President Trump because I believed at that point that he deserved it. And a lot of people, most people said it was impossible to achieve what he has just done on Saturday, January 3rd. So if I believe he deserved it on October, imagine now, I think he has proven to the world what he means. I mean, January 3rd will go down in history as the day justice defeated a tyranny. It's a milestone, and it's not only huge for the Minnesotan people in our future. I think it's a hu step for humanity, for freedom and human dignity.

[F]

Did you, have you spoken with President Trump since then?

[E]

I actually spoke with President Trump on October 10, the same day the prize was announced. Not since then, but I do.

[A]

So not since then have I spoken to him. Yes. I mean, Two or three months ago. But.

[B]

I haven't spoken to him since I got the prize that was rightfully going should have gone to him.

[D]

How did that conversation go?

[A]

Here's the coup de grace, though, ladies and gentlemen. Just go back a little bit. Let's see if she's ready.

[F]

Spoke President Trump since then.

[E]

Actually, I spoke with President Trump on October 10, the same day the prize was announced. Not since then. But I do want to say today on behalf of the Venezuelan people, how grateful we are for his courageous vision, the actions, historical actions he has taken against this narco terrorist regime, to start dismantling this structure and bringing Maduro to justice. Which means that 30 million Venezuelans are now closer to freedom, but also that the United States of America is a safer country nowadays.

[D]

Right.

[F]

Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize? Did that actually happen? I had read that somewhere. I wasn't sure if it was true.

[E]

Well, it hasn't happened yet. But I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe the Venezuelan people, because he's a surprise. Other than one people certainly want to. To give it to him and share it with him. What has. What he has done. As I said in his story.

[A]

That is words, words, words. Where's my goals? You know, the problem is she's like maybe a five and I don't know, she's just like out of my age range.

[B]

Yes, well, there you go.

[C]

You know, she's aged out.

[A]

She's aged out. Maybe if it was the 80s, if maybe I had gotten it before. But, you know, when you have to actually kidnap a leader of another country to get your Peace Prize, it doesn't feel as good. I'm sorry, I just don't want to have to. Makes it feel like I'm being too. The problem is thirsty.

[D]

She lacks what Zoran had in the Oval Office, which is like an aura of being a winner.

[A]

Yeah, right, right, sorry. She should have given it to him. October 10th, you had your opportunity. More on Venezuela later in the program, of course. And in a moment, we'll be talking to Dr. Christian Lyrely, an OB GYN and chair of the Board of Committee for to Protect Health care on the CDC's assault on vaccines as announced, I guess this morning, maybe yesterday afternoon, I should say. But finding a doctor, speaking of which you actually like, feels like finding a diamond in the rough. Sure, you want to find someone who's in network, someone who's nearby with open time slots, but let's be honest, that's Just a start. You also deserve someone who really listens, who makes you feel comfortable, explains things clearly and still gives you a lollipop even though you're a full grown adult if you want one. Your diamond in the rough doctor exists and finding them is easy on zocdoc. 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Joining us now, Dr. Kristen Lierly, OB GYN and Chair of the board of the Committee to Protect Health Care. Kristen, thanks so much for joining us. Two big stories out today not exactly unrelated, one being that we are suffering one of the worst flu seasons in about 25 years, at least in terms of people who have contracted the flu and coming in with symptoms and announcement from Health and Human Services that they are narrowing the guidance on childhood vaccinations. Walk us through what both those announcements mean. I mean, I think everybody knows what it means when it's a bad flu year.

[C]

Yeah. Well, I think we better get used to bad name your disease years. Right now it's the flu because this is respiratory season. We always see respiratory viruses rising at this point point. But what we're also seeing is a rise in measles, a rise in whooping cough, a rise in a number of other vaccine preventable diseases because of this administration, because of the political messaging that they are putting out into the universe and that people who follow them are listening to. I mean, I'm seeing in my own patients and I'm an obstetrician, gynecologist, I take care of pregnant people. But in my own patients, we vaccinate against whooping cough toward the end of pregnancy and we vaccinate for the baby because a newborn with whooping cough, first of all, we can't vaccinate a newborn against whooping cough. But it's really hard to treat and it's painful to watch and babies really suffer. But I'm finding a lot of moms are not wanting to vaccinate or they're asking a lot of questions because they don't trust vaccines the way that they used to. And now with these new recommendations that were made with very little thought that we're very clearly politically motivated. They've reduced the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11. And they've spaced them out in a way where they won't be protective for a lot of these young children, which ultimately means that we're going to see a lot more of these preventable diseases.

[A]

Do we even know what the process was to make this change?

[C]

Magic wand. What's that Magic wand?

[A]

I think. Well, but I mean, honestly, like, I mean, there we because in the past there is a at the very least, there is transparency in terms of how, you know, we have an Advisory committee that issues, you know, suggestions here. It's just sort of like Kennedy met with whomever and. Or had these ideas and just rolled it out, essentially.

[C]

I don't mean to be glib. I'm a physician. I went to medical school for four years. I did four years of residency training. Every year I have to do continuing education to make sure that I know what's going on so I can take care of my patients. What they used to do is they brought together experts from all over the country who understood the research, who put their heads together and made recommendations about what do we need here in the United States? What is the best thing for our population of people at certain ages in their development? And that was how these decisions were made. They were thoughtful. They were protracted. They had footnotes. They were very detailed. But what happened yesterday was literally just, this is what we're doing. There were no resources or there was no data. There was no evidence. It was just this change. And the change that they're selling to the people as reflecting what's happening in other countries. But other countries are not the United States of America. Other countries have universal health care. Other countries have parental leave. We don't have any of those supports here. And all of those things have to be factored into how we take care of our people.

[A]

Okay, let me ask you about that specifically, because we should also say that it turns out the fact is that we are actually now below the recommendation, the number of recommendations that we have in terms of vaccination, actually below a lot of the European countries with this new announcement. A. But. But explain how the difference of having universal health care, how that impacts this. Because it's true. We don't have the same health care. We don't have the same level of support. But I'm thinking, like, specifically, like, I'm looking at the flu shot, for instance. The US Will no longer recommend annual flu shots for children. They'll suggest the parents make the decision in consultation with medical professionals. But because of the cost of health care and because a lot of people don't have doctors, you don't have the opportunity to consult with a doctor. You don't have a doctor who's saying, like, hey, you're in here for your annual physical. Make sure you get the kids a flu shot. You just. You are severing the relationship between this doc, this medical advice, and patients.

[C]

You're spot on, Sam. They just took Medicaid away from a large swath of the population, including children. They just cut ACA premium assistance. So Millions of Americans are going to go without health care and then they turn around and say you have to talk to your doctor in order to get these, these preventive measures to protect your health care. It doesn't work that way, you know, and they're also cherry picking this data. The United States is not Denmark. The United States is much, much larger, much more diverse. Denmark is about the size of Minnesota. So I mean think about it. It doesn't work that way. And by the way, what is up with our obsession with the Trump regime's obsession with Denmark? It's the vaccines. It's Greenland. What is it going to be next? Confiscating Legos? I don't understand why they are so concerned about Denmark. This is the United States. We need to tailor our health advice, our health care for the people who live here.

[B]

Well, I mean the HPV vaccine being a part of this as well takes me back to when I was the age when I got the HPV vaccine and I remember some of my friends having it being controversial with their parents. And this is like a fight basically that goes all the way, you know, years and the Republicans have been waging on it. So it's just fascinating to see like, you know, you talk about like the lack of coherence here. This isn't just new with the RFK Jr. Movement. The Republicans and the conservatives have been waging war on science and these kinds of vaccinations for a while.

[C]

They sure have. And as an ob GYN doctor who was training during the time that they rolled out the HPV vaccine, I remember that so clearly because to me and my colleagues and my patients, this is a cancer preventing vaccine. But politicians were saying this is a vaccine that we're giving to 12 year old girls that will make them promiscuous.

[A]

That was the big argument. The big argument was this is going to make them more likely to have sex because now they feel like they have a license to have sex without getting hpv. Which I can tell you that like even, you know, at the time this was happening, someone in probably in his 30s at that time I had never even heard of HPV in that way. So the idea that I had been vaccinated or not vaccinated against it. But it's funny how it went from like a religious sort of like, because that was very big during the aughts when this was happening. The idea of, you know, having chastity balls and getting rid of sex ed in schools was a very big push. And it's sort of like mutated it's almost as if like the sort of that, that, that fundamentalist anti sex ed energy sort of went into the sort of the Maha movement in some way and mutated and some of that vaccine hesitancy was adopted. But let's. I want to go through some of the specifics here. Emma mentioned hpv, we talked about the flu shots. We should just say that, like there were 300 pediatric flu deaths last year's unusually severe flu season. This season sounds like it's worse. 89% of the victims were not fully vaccinated. And again, this is about. Maybe it would be helpful for you to sort of just discuss the concept of public health versus, like individual health, because your choice, right? Yeah, like we don't really hear that much about that. There's a difference between those things. They're not necessarily oppositional, but there's a difference. I mean, if we were all to pursue our own interests exclusively, we would all take antibiotics for anything. But 10 years down the road, antibiotics aren't going to work for anything.

[C]

No. I mean, look at what's happening with gonorrhea right now. We have so many disease antibiotic resistant forms of gonorrhea. Recently they were able to come up with two new antibiotics. So we've got a little bit of breathing space, but we know that gonorrhea mutates quickly and we have to stay ahead of it. But you know, to your point, Sam, about public health versus individual health, it's not one or the other. They go together. Public health is about having clean water, clean air, preventing the diseases that you can prevent. And vaccines are one of the greatest public health victories in the last century. If you look back to the early 1900s and the deaths from the flu pandemic, from diphtheria, from tetanus, from all of these things that we don't even think about anymore because we just get the vaccines and we don't have to worry about it. Vaccines are a victim of their own success, which gives us the psychological freedom to think that it doesn't matter to us as individuals. But it does. Because if we're not all pitching in and we're not all doing what we can, it makes the most vulnerable amongst us more vulnerable. Now it is important to ask to have conversations with your healthcare provider, if you can, to seek out good information from places like the American Academy of Pediatrics. If you're looking for childhood vaccines, like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. If you're looking for vaccines, when you're pregnant looking for good data so that you can make good, informed decisions about your own health care. But pitching in and being part of that public health solution is integral to your own health and the health of your family and your community.

[A]

There seems to be like, you know, a question of, like, where is the burden of like, where on what side of a ledger are we going to air? And maybe air is the wrong word, but it really is like, where is there a burden? Because we have moved from a more or less like, opt out type of situation where like, you know, you have the ability to say to your doctor, I want to, I feel very strongly that I want to delay the hepatitis vaccine from, for my newborn baby. Like, you have the ability to advocate for yourself in that regard. But it seems like we've now flipped it on the other head where if you know nothing about medicine, you just know you want your kid to be healthy. It is now incumbent upon you to learn what you don't know, which of course is very difficult. Right. Because I don't, like, what am I going to start doing?

[C]

Complicated.

[A]

It's complicated. It's not like buying, you know, it's like, it's, it's even harder than buying a stereo in the old days. And, but that's, but honestly, that's like, that's the dilemma here because the, the incidence of hepatitis is going to be higher in low income communities, in communities where they have less contact on a regular basis with a doctor. Maybe they don't have as many people in their social network who have exposure to medical training and whatnot. And we are essentially increasing the responsibility on these people who have less assets and resources to know what they need to be healthy. And at the expense of really just sort of an ideology.

[F]

Yeah.

[C]

And they can't get access to the healthcare and the information that they need. That's why we vaccinate for hepatitis B, because if we could screen everybody and everybody came to the doctor for prenatal care, then we probably wouldn't have to worry about it. But even though we do screen our patients who come for care, there are a lot of people who don't get prenatal care or who get inadequate prenatal care. So that's the reason we vaccinate everybody. And I can tell you as a mom, I have four kids. My oldest is 26. When he was an infant, that was when we first started vaccinating against hepatitis B. I was reluctant to vaccinate my little baby. It's scary to look at that newborn and think, I'm going to put a vaccine in him. I get it, Maha. We want the best thing for our babies. And often the best thing is getting the vaccine and doing it in a safe way. It was shared decision making, making sure that you understand what's happening and what the best thing is for your baby, for you, for your family.

[A]

Just going through what they have rolled back. It was the flu shot. It was. CDC no longer recommends hepatitis A vaccination for children ages 12 to 23 months. And now CDC previously recommended Menagog meningococcal. Thank you.

[C]

I got you.

[A]

To adolescents with the first dose at age 11 or 12 and a second dose at age 16. And now they are basically rolling that back to just sort of like special, special cases.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So get ready to see more brain infections in young people that are obviously devastating life determining. I mean they can kill you when you are at your most vibrant and best. It's just shocking to me that they can just literally with the, with the sweep of a pen, just get rid of it. People will die. Teens and people in their young twenties will die because they're not vaccinated against these things.

[A]

And we have no idea like why, right? I mean not so much we have an idea why, but like we have no idea why they've decided that, that the meningitis vaccine is too dangerous for 11 and 12 year old and 16 year olds. They do recommend it for first year college students living in residential housing. They do recommend it for high risk groups. But to make that determination that it has value to freshmen at a college for instance, versus not other people, they would have to say that there is a downside, like a risk associated with meningitis that outweighs the benefit that they're conceding exists for freshmen in college. And so but they then we have no indication of what that is from them.

[C]

We don't know. The best explanation they've given us is that this is what they're doing in Denmark. But if you look at the actual childhood recommended vaccine chart and you can find it@ AAP.org there's a chart and then there are like 17 pages of footnotes and links and data and evidence that help you understand what these diseases are and give you more access to why we vaccinate against these things. But that isn't at all part of what came out yesterday. And I think that's really telling. I mean obviously it's telling if they can only tell you just because we said so and somebody else is doing it. That's that's not great advice. We need better. We have to have better from our public health leaders in this country.

[A]

I think this is the from the Times. The review compares. This is speaking of the review. It's a 34 page review authored by Tracy Beth Hogue, Acting director of the FDA center for Drug Evaluation and Research. And they have. And also Martin Koldorff who have all long opposed vaccine mandates advocated for reducing US Childhood vaccine schedule prior to their roles in government. Their review compares the US to nations including Australia, Canada, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway and United Kingdom. The review claims the US Outpaces them the number of recommended shots under the previous schedule. Most of the named countries recommend nearly an identical list of shots. I mean, so this is a polite way of saying like even on the basic facts, this review is just wrong. Aside from not addressing the differences in health care systems. Because this is again like if you are under. If I have a concierge doctor who is with me and I'm going to see every quarter for a checkup, the advice they give me is going to be more specific and tailored and can be more nuanced and can get down to like very granular risk reward analysis based upon, you know, Sam, you hang out in the subway a lot or Sam, you, I mean, honestly, like you like to go to parties. So you, I mean it can go down to that, that granular level where, you know, you shouldn't be taking Tylenol as much. You shouldn't be. I mean it could be anything but. But we're not talking about that at all with our system.

[C]

No, especially if you have a concierge doctor. I mean, they are there to cater to the tiniest concern. And if they don't know the answer, they can get all the tests, they can get all the imaging studies, all the blood work because you have access, you have resources. But on a public health level, think about the people in Flint, Michigan who were drinking that lead contaminated water for so long, brown stuff was coming out of their tap. That's a public health problem. What do those people do? Many of them didn't have access to a physician, but they didn't even have access to clean water. What do you do in that situation? Clean water equals vaccines. In this scenario, we have to make sure that we've got the floor for everybody. And then when you start making those individualized healthcare decisions, is this vaccine right for me? Is this medication right for me? Should I be doing this screening test? There are so many questions we can each ask about our individual health but public health is for all of us.

[A]

The rotavirus vaccination. Rotavirus was the leading cause before vaccination of severe diarrhea in young children. It hospitalized between 55,000 and 70,000 annually in the United States. Deaths were between 20 and 60 annually. Vaccines now routinely administered to infants became available in the late 2000s. Protect 9 in 10 recipients from severe disease. Now federal officials say parents should make their own decisions in consultation with doctors. But again, it's like I've been a parent of two kids and I cannot imagine a scenario where it would occur to me to ask about the rotavirus.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Like, if it wasn't for this job, I wouldn't even know what a rotavirus. I would have never read the word rotavirus. It doesn't come up in any type of. And I would say also rsv. Rsv, which I, I had never heard of it until like the, I don't know, the past two or three years maybe because Covid was in the air and maybe I was reading more. But it is the respiratory syn. You, you would know how to pronounce this.

[C]

Let's just call it rsv.

[A]

Sam rsv. A rampant pathogen infects nearly every young child and is the leading cause of hospitalization in children. Yeah, in recent years, all children were able to gain protection for the first time through maternal vaccination or monoclonal antibodies. The existing recommendation doesn't change under the new guidelines, but the administration says it only recommends RSV monoclonal antibodies for certain high risk groups. But that includes children whose mothers did not get vaccinated during pregnancy. I mean, this is, again, we are just sort of like putting more responsibility on non doctors to. It's, it's, it's very similar to the idea of like looking at patients as consumers, as if, like we all have enough knowledge about medicine to make a, an informed decision on, you know, I, you know, I think you're using the wrong suture. I don't know what. You know, it's, it's crazy.

[C]

It's overwhelming from a patient perspective. I'm a doctor, but I'm also a patient. And as a patient, as a person who's living in this world, you think you're going to be fine? Maybe I don't need that vaccine. I'm probably not going to get rotavirus. I'll probably get through the season without the flu. If I do, I'll be fine. Some people aren't fine and you're gambling with your health. But in this situation, you're gambling with your child's health. I don't know if any of your kids ever had rsv, Sam, but I remember two of my boys had bad asthma. And when they got RSV in the winter, it was brutal listening to them breathe, trying to get them through these coughing fits and just being worried that they weren't going to get better. So these vaccines have been game changers, and I can see that as somebody who's had that experience. But when I'm talking with a new mom who's thinking about the future, she's thinking her baby is going to be fine, that her baby's not going to get sick. But when it really does happen, then it's too late for these vaccines. So that's another part of the conversation that we need to make sure that we're having. But you can only have it when you have access to a healthcare provider that you trust. And if you're relying on what you're seeing on social media, there's so many, so much misinformation out there, and people don't even. They know some of it is misinformation, but they don't process it that way. So they still follow this advice that points them in the wrong direction and causes them to make decisions that are not in their best interest. Our healthcare system is so fundamentally broken. This is just one, one symptom.

[A]

And as of now, my understanding is that insurers are still going to cover these vaccinations. Well, as of now, if they are.

[C]

On the CDC schedule, Dr. Oz said, but he didn't say if they're on the American Academy of Pediatrics schedule or the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists schedule. So with this cut in the number of vaccines and the change in timing, I think it remains to be understood whether they will actually be covering these vaccines in a way that is meaningful and actually effective.

[A]

Right. And we're talking about both. And it's also, we don't know relative to like private insurance versus Medicaid.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Or Medicare for that matter, or S CHIP or it could be different across those. Those boards. I mean, I would imagine it's going to be interesting to see the difference between private health insurance coverage and public health insurance coverage, because I suspect private insurance, when they don't have the ideological factor in there, may just find that, like, long term, oh, yes, the risk pool, it's going to be cheaper for us to pay for the vaccinations than to deal with any of our people that we're covering to deal with these actual diseases.

[B]

It's why they, they covered IUD. They cover IUDs or other, you know, birth control and things like that. Because even if it's not, you know, the Republicans or whatever administration are ideologically against it, it's, it's better for preventative medicine that way. But there's also this lawsuit, right? Because back to just the process of what, what Sam's talking about, they apparently didn't follow this law, this Administrative Procedures act, where they're supposed to basically make it clear why they're making these determinations. So I wonder if the lawsuit has like, they're trying to speed past it or something like that and if that affects private or public health insurance too.

[C]

Yeah, that's a great question. And so many of these battles are being waged in the courts right now. But back to your point about how insurance companies think it's a great idea to invest in preventive care, hey, I'm going to push back on that because in my experience, whether we're talking about vaccines or IUDs, insurance companies and hospital systems are just thinking about making it to the end of the year because what might happen after that is their patient might leave, their patient might switch insurance companies or go to a different healthcare system. So they're just trying to do the most budget friendly thing right now, not actually invest in your health care in the future of American healthcare. So ultimately, failing to provide these vaccines will cause an increase in the number of preventable illnesses, which will raise costs overall for all of us in this country, where we already know that we have the most expensive health care in the world and the worst outcomes amongst all of our peer nations.

[A]

Dr. Kristin Lierly, OB GYN and Chair of the Board of Directors, the Committee to Protect Health Care. I mean, what. Thanks for your time. But what, I mean, what should people do in this instance? I mean, you know, I think like, maybe it's my own sort of like bias, but I suspect that most people in our audience at the very least are, you know, will listen to this stuff, will listen to, you know, we'll read deeper into it. Will the, the vast majority will be sensitive to this stuff and be in an opportunity to advocate for themselves and to find the vaccinations. It may or may not be prohibitively expensive because of these decisions. But what can, what should people be doing? I guess on a, on a political level, because as on an individual level, I mean, I think it's sort of like undermines. The point is that we should not have to be fighting to, you know, or going to a learning annex to find out, like, what diseases are more preventable and where there's vaccines that are available to us.

[C]

To deal with something like this, it feels overwhelming. But there are a couple simple things that we can do. So as patients, instead of turning to the cdc, which is where I always used to go as a doctor, to find guidelines and information, I know I can't count on the CDC anymore because it's been compromised. So I go to my professional organization. And as patients, we all can do that too. So it's the American Academy of Pediatrics. If you're looking for information about your kids, it's the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. For people looking for ob GYN care, it's the American Academy of Family Practice. If you're looking for general care, look to those professional organizations, the American Medical Association. They will have this information for you that you can trust. Because we are doctors and healthcare providers and we actually care. With regards to the political piece of it, I mean, there's one solution. We can't trust what's happening on a federal level right now. We need to replace these leaders with people who actually have the best interest of Americans in mind. And that opportunity is coming. We've got the midterms in November. We've got a presidential coming up in 2028. Now is the time to start building.

[A]

Kristen Lierly, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time today.

[C]

Thank you, Sam. Thanks, Emma.

[A]

All right, folks. It's. It's scary. Yeah, it is. It is scary. It is just also another reason why we need.

[B]

Medicare for All.

[A]

Medicare for all. Because a, not only obviously is it less expensive per capita in terms of spending, not only will it provide health care for more people, not only will it not. It will essentially remove that sort of like side hustle you have of trying to get health insurance coverage for any given thing that you, that you've done. But it also improves the relationship between you as a patient or a citizen and your health care because you have a ongoing, more consistent closer proximity, less obstacles in the way of having a closer relationship with your doctor or your health care providers. And that just makes for better outcomes.

[D]

Yeah, I mean, the truth is about the vaccine policy that it was actually a pretty impressive thing American did, America did. But no one trusts it because we don't have relationship with our healthcare system that fosters trust at all. And Abdul El Sayed is the candidate that's been speaking explicitly to that you know, we can pathologize and we do make fun of people like Bret Weinstein who do this anti vax stuff. But it's a symptom of our private, you know, healthcare system. And I'll just say on the left reckoning bum steer of the Year Awards 2025 RFK walked away with it in our member vote over Fuentes and Vivek Ramaswamy. 90% of people said it's RFK. So I think they're right.

[A]

With that said, your support is what keeps this show going. You can become a member@jointhe MajorityReport.com when you do, you not only get the free show free of commercials but you get to IMS during the fun half and you help this show survive and thrive in 2026 with all these pathogens around. Yep, that could do us in. Also don't forget just coffee co op fair trade coffee, use the coupon code majority get 10 off all your coffee needs. And speaking of left reckoning that.

[D]

Yeah. Coming up right after the show today, Jose Luis Granada Sea talking today a bit about Venezuela and also Nick Estes of Red Nation who I'm a big fan of talking about the long history of America doing this to folks in the context of the Indian Wars. So check that out this afternoon.

[A]

Oh we interviewed him a long time ago on this program. Right.

[D]

Yep. He's great.

[A]

He's great. And speaking of David Griscom, Emma.

[B]

Yeah. So reading his book right now, Tangled Web. It's phenomenal. He very I sent the link in the, in the chat, David Griscom very honored and humbled as athletes like to say in post grain press conferences to that he asked me to moderate his, the launch of his book and the celebration of the launch of that book. We're going to have a conversation around an hour and a half on Wednesday, February 23rd.

[D]

An open conversation.

[B]

Open yes. Where we just, we'll deal with, we'll battle each other on the ideas in the book. 6pm down an avenue C at the Francis Kite Club in New York City. It's free, you can just reserve a spot but you got to go to that link before all the spots fill up up. It's the Eventbrite link that's down below in the YouTube and episode descriptions. The book is the Myth of Red Texas. It's very good.

[A]

I just got my ticket.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

I just literally open conversation is the way of humans connecting. Folks. See you in the fun half. Three months from now, six months from now, nine months from now. And I don't think it's going to be the same as it looks like in six months from now. And I don't know if it's necessarily going to be better six months from now than it is three months from now, but I think around 18 months out, we're going to look back and go like, wow.

[D]

What?

[A]

What is that going on? It's nuts. Wait a second. Hold on. Hold on for a second. Emma, welcome to the program. Fun Half. Matt.

[D]

Boo.

[A]

Fun Pack. What is up, everyone? Fun pack. No. McKeen. You did it. Fun Pack.

[B]

Let's go, Brandon.

[A]

Let's go, Brandon. Fun. Pat Bradley. You want to say hello? Sorry to disappoint everyone. I'm just a random guy. It's all the boys today.

[C]

Fundamentally false.

[B]

No. I'm sorry.

[A]

Women. Stop talking for a second.

[B]

Let me finish.

[E]

Where is this coming from?

[B]

Dude?

[A]

But dude, you want to smoke this? 7A.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

All right.

[F]

You're safe.

[A]

Yes. Is this me? Is it me? It is you. Is this me? A lot of us may think it is you who is you. No sound. Every single freaking day. What's on your mind? We can discuss free markets and we can discuss capitalism.

[E]

I'm gonna go snow white.

[A]

Libertarians. They're so stupid. Though common sense says of course.

[B]

Gobbledygo.

[A]

Cook. We nailed him.

[B]

So what's 79 plus 21?

[A]

Challenge. Man, I'm positively quivering. I believe 96. I want to say. 8 5, 7, 2, 1 0, 85 5, 011 half. 3, 8, 9, 11.

[D]

For instance.

[B]

$3,400. $1900.

[A]

5, 4, $3 trillion. Sold. It's a zero sum game.

[B]

Actually. You're making me think less.

[A]

Wait. But let me say this poop.

[E]

Call it satire. Sam goes satire on top of it all.

[A]

My favorite part about you is just.

[B]

Like every day, all day, like everything you do.

[A]

Without a doubt. Hey, buddy.

[E]

We see you.

[A]

All right, folks, folks, folks.

[B]

It's just the week being weeded out. Obviously.

[A]

Yeah. Sun's out, guns out. I, I, I don't know.

[B]

But you should know.

[A]

People just don't.

[D]

Like to entertain ideas anymore.

[A]

I have a question. Who cares?

[D]

Our chat is enabled. Folks.

[A]

I love it.

[B]

I do love that.

[A]

Gotta jump. Gotta be quick. I gotta jump. I'm losing it, bro. Two o'. Clock. We're already late. And the guys behind being a dick. So screw them. Sent to a gulag.

[B]

Outrageous.

[A]

Like, what is wrong with you? Love you. Bye. Love you.

[B]

Bye.

[A]

Bye.