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  My latest nextgen Covid vax update is online: —New feature: Combined flu & Covid vaccines — the first one has been approved for people 50 & over, plus a massive effectiveness trial is beginning in Denmark & Spain —Results from a phase 2 trial of a "variant-proof" vaccine —A phase 1/2 clinical trial of a featured vax has fully recruited Plus preclinical reports & more: https://vaxtracker.wordpress.com/2026/09/29/the-race-for-combined-flu-covid-vaccine-nextgen-vax-new...

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  It's been five years today since my son Adam died. Missing his smile and his bear hug. Light poem by Robert Montgomery: https://www.robertmontgomery.org/recycledsunlightpoems/2grya25po4v0uts1x9p2asxcz6l3ca #Grief

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  Introducing the NextGen Covid Vax Tracker! https://vaxtracker.wordpress.com/2026/07/29/introducing-the-nextgen-covid-vax-tracker/ A monthly update on vaccine progress, featured vaccines, analyses, plus lots of background info. #Vaccines #Covid #Covid19

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  A bumper month of nextgen Covid vax clinical trial news: — Results of 2 clinical trials for mucosal vaccines, including Vaxart's oral vax — Another mucosal vaccine is going into clinical trial, & 4 others are fully recruited or completed — Results from 2 Covid human challenge tests — and another one is recruiting One advanced vax has sadly been shelved. Lots more news now online at PLOS: https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/07/29/bumper-month-of-clinical-trial-news-to-ring-out-this...

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  This month, PLOS is shutting down its long-running Independent Blogs Network. I don't want to call it quits on vax tracking though, so I'm going to see if there is enough interest to keep it going as a reader-supported project. Introducing my new & much-improved NextGen Covid Vax Tracker: https://vaxtracker.wordpress.com/ Please check it out & spread the word! The usual update post is free — with additional new analyses & features for paid supporting subscribers. #Vaccin...

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  I'd fallen for, and helped spread, what I now realize was a myth about quote tweets: That there's almost no research on them. Big mistake! Now rectified. Here's my new post, digging into more than 30 studies with data on quote tweets. They don't settle all the questions. But there are answers, or at least partial ones, to most. It's still complicated, though. It's a * very * long read, but there are summary points ....1/2 https://absolutelymaybe...

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  It was a slow month for next generation Covid vaccine results reporting, but a big month for clinical trial news: - A new clinical trial for intranasal and inhaled versions of a vax is on the starting blocks in the US; - Another intranasal vax trial has expanded to another 2 cities in the US; and - A trial for a "variant-proof" vax going into phase 2a trial in Germany. Plus some preclinical reports & more in my latest monthly update @PLOS@mstdn.science https://absolutelymaybe...

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  ...Ground-breaking class valedictorian to first African-American graduate of Macalester College, Minnesota, she was a lifelong activist and international humanitarian. She found her calling in medicine, graduating in Paris when was 38. I created a Wikipedia page for her, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharine_Deaver_Lealtad 2/2 #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM

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  5 things we learned about journal peer review in 2022 – my annual roundup of research on peer review. It was a bumper year for randomized trials in peer review – 5 of them! We can't usually count on even 1. https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2023/01/26/5-things-we-learned-about-journal-peer-review-in-2022/ #PeerReview #MetaScience #OpenScience #Scicomm #AcademicChatter

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  “No single raindrop…” "No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood." This is a line from a poster I used to have in my office. It popped into my head this week when I was in a queue to fuel my car. We've had shortages around here—not because the country didn't have enough, but because panic buyers have been draining supplies. https://hildabastian.wordpress.com/2026/04/10/no-single-raindrop/

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  This is Sechi Katō (1893-1989) in 1918. It's her graduation photo from a women's college in Tokyo. Eventually she would become the first woman principal investigator at RIKEN, Japan's national chemistry & physics institute. She faced incredibly daunting hurdles before then... 1/7 #WomenInSTEM

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  New feature on next generation Covid vax: Which vaccines are advancing the most? I highlight 3 in mid- to late-stage trials, with manufacturing partners/plans—including a "universal" Covid vax & a mucosal one—and another 6 vaccines. Plus more clinical trial results & 10 new preclinical reports. Now @PLOS https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/04/02/accelerating-development-for-some-nextgen-covid-vaxes-update-no-39/ #Vaccines #Covid #Covid19

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  Hate that it has come to this, but it's time to consider PubMed vulnerable to enshittification. My latest post @PLOS discusses the lines we need to fight to hold – and alternatives we can rely on internationally: https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/02/14/what-if-we-cant-rely-on-pubmed/ #medlibs

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  My darling son Adam would have been 43 today. Cherishing memories of hanging out with him—here in 2012. ❤️

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  This is so exciting! The German National Library of Medicine @ZBMED just had its first open meeting on the plan for an open and independent PubMed safety net. Here's my write-up @PLOS on the meeting & how institutions & others can help: https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/05/14/germanys-plan-for-an-open-and-independent-pubmed-safety-net/ #MedLibs

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  In February 2021, a town in Brazil showed up for a groundbreaking whole-of-town randomized Covid vaccine trial, providing evidence of population effects of mass vaccination in a pandemic. My latest @PLOS post digs into this exciting precedent, and why it matters so much: https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/03/28/a-unique-pandemic-control-trial/ #Covid #Covid19 #Vaccines

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  Warning: this sociology paper by Mike Michael is a rabbit hole, leading to other rabbit holes - fascinating, occasionally hilarious & sometimes downright bizarre... It's about what the author calls "lay metrology". That's describing measurements in terms that are presumed to give lay people a sense of the proportion - like saying something's "twice the size of Wales".... 1/5 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/096...

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  The rose is hands down the prettiest flower in the rain today 😍 #BloomScrolling

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  Adjusting to the Changing Internet When ads flooded some parts of the internet, I adjusted by avoiding those places when I recognized the signs—or hitting the back button quickly when I hadn't. When "AI" scrapers led to an explosion of sites making me wait while checking if I'm a robot, I got used to it, though it's a drag. And so on it goes. Now it seems cyber surveillance could advance in ways that might require bigger behavioral adaptation. https://...

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  News-packed update on nextgen Covid vaccines this month at my @PLOS@mstdn.science blog: - Phase 2 results for a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine from Japan with a phase 3 trial recently closed off - Preclinical results for an intranasal "universal" vaccine that provided some protection from coronaviruses, H1N1 flu, some bacterial infections, and an asthma allergen - Opportunities to participate in intranasal vaccine trials in Finland and the US And much more: https://absolutelymaybe.pl...

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  My best photo yet of a native Blue-Banded Bee! 😍 😍 😍 It doesn't do the brilliance of the blue justice, though. They are buzz pollinators, so as usual, I heard it before I saw it. (Buzz pollinators shake the pollen off by vibrating — it's a loud buzz!) More about them here: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-with-bec-crew/2014/09/blue-banded-bee-a-native-beauty/ #WildOz #Bees

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  Another vaccine approval and more in my latest next generation Covid vax update: - Self-amplifying mRNA vax Kostaive approved in the UK - New trial for a mucosal vax on the starting blocks in Finland - Some results from AstraZeneca phase 1 trial for mRNA vax - 11 preclinical reports, including 2 for mucosal pancoronavirus vaccines https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/01/31/another-approval-and-more-nextgen-covid-vax-news-update-no-37/ #Vaccines #Covid #Covid19