Tragic News From The 2024 Butler Shooting

What a terrible thing! Like fireman/hero Corey Comperatore, who was killed that day, James Copenhaver was minding his own business at the Trump rally.  He was essential murdered as well.

He and his family had to go through two years of suffering. 

This ought to be a wake-up call to reopen the investigation into Thomas Crooks, who is still a mystery man and who got away with all this death and damage. Somebody needs to be held accountable.

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James Copenhaver, survivor of Trump rally shooting, dead after complications from injuries

NY Post 9-24-26 

"James Copenhaver, of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, who was wounded in a failed assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in 2024, has died, according to several reports.

"Copenhaver, in his mid-70s, was one of several people who attempted assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at the Butler Farm Show complex outside Butler, PennsylvaniaCopenhaver, in his mid-70s, was one of several people who attempted assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at the Butler Farm Show complex outside Butler, Pennsylvania, after Crooks scaled the roof of a nearby glass manufacturing building and took aim at the then-presidential candidate.

"A person who answered a phone number connected to Copenhaver’s family directed Fox News Digital to a Pittsburgh-area law firm for confirmation and further comment.

"The House Republican Conference posted an obituary for Copenhaver on social media, saying he had died Thursday and that lawmakers were “deeply saddened.”

“Jim endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance. We join his family and loved ones in mourning his loss and praying for them during this difficult time. May he rest in peace,” the caucus said in a statement.

"Ken Silva, a journalist who wrote a book about the assassination attempt, wrote on his website that a person close to Copenhaver’s family also confirmed Copenhaver had died and had been dealing with permanent injuries, including bullet fragments still lodged in his body.

"David Dutch was also wounded in the shooting but survived. Butler County firefighter Corey Comperatore was shot and killed in the bleachers behind Trump’s dais that day.

"Speaking to Pittsburgh’s KDKA in 2025, Copenhaver said he stood to look at the jumbotron behind him as Trump spoke.

“Next thing I know, my sleeve has been yanked,” he said. “I could see a portion of it going by pretty fast, and I heard ‘pew.’ I heard it, and I didn’t realize at the time that I had gotten shot.”

"He said he was then shot a second time but that the bullets both “went into soft material.”

“It was like a jolt. It didn’t knock me over, but I didn’t want to stand anymore,” he told the station.

"A lawsuit Copenhaver filed against the United States earlier this year alleged he was also required to undergo multiple surgeries.

"Mayor Jondavid Longo of nearby Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania — who spoke at the Butler rally — mourned Copenhaver’s reported death Thursday.

“[Copenhaver] survived that day, but he never fully recovered from the wounds. For two years he lived with surgeries, remaining fragments, and pain that never left him. Those of us who were there that day have never forgotten Corey Comperatore, David Dutch, or Jim,” Longo said in a statement on X.

“Butler County still carries that afternoon. May he rest in peace. Prayers for Marianne and the Copenhaver family.”

"The attack triggered intense scrutiny of the Secret Service after investigations uncovered breakdowns in planning, communication and security around the rally site. Then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned less than two weeks later, taking responsibility for the security lapse. A subsequent bipartisan House task force concluded the Butler attack was preventable and identified failures in planning, execution and leadership.

"One of the Republican lawmakers on that task force, Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida, climbed onto the roof Crooks used to take aim at Trump and later told Fox News Digital he was incredulous at how easy it was to scale after Cheatle had cited the roof’s slope in explaining why it was not secured.

"Six Secret Service agents were later suspended without pay in connection with the failures.

James Copenhaver, of Moon Township, Pa. AP

"Trump returned to Butler in October 2024, less than three months after the assassination attempt, to hold another rally at the same site and honor Comperatore.

"Trump’s raised fist and mouthing of the word “fight” became a lasting image of the assassination attempt that he used throughout his successful campaign to become the first president since Grover Cleveland to serve two nonconsecutive terms."

Netanyahu's Powerful, Courageous, & Necessary U.N. Address

Did we Jews ever need a pick-me-up, and didn't Benjamin Netanyahu provide just the tonic! I was standing and applauding throughout his address.

He told the delegates (most of whom had left to avoid hearing the truth about themselves) exactly why Israel fights back: "Because we have no other choice."  He told those "moral cowards" exactly what he thinks of them.  He excoriated Mamdani and his wife with a "Shame on you!", to people who have no shame and who are blatant about their Jew-and-Israel-hatred.  That also describes people like Rashida Tlaib, who held up a sign reading "war criminal" when Netanyahu last spoke before Congress.

He was strong, defiant, and unapologetic: everything that is needed in a leader, and everything that is needed for Jews to hear in our own country that is being poisoned by the hatred of the liberals,  Democrats, and Socialists.  

Both Bibi and the Republicans must win the upcoming elections! 

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Michael Goodwin: Netanyahu entered a hostile environment — and met the moment with a speech that can only be called a success

NY Post 9-24-26

"It is a given that many media and political descriptions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United Nations will call it fiery and defiant.

"And so it was — and so it had to be.

"Both the content and the sometimes-harsh tone were essential if he was to capture the moment and the point of his appearance.

"Once again and always, Israel is in a fight for its existence, and finds itself being abandoned by former allies in Europe and increasingly isolated on the world stage.

"Given those circumstances, nobody of sane and fair mind could seriously expect the Jewish state’s leader to come to a hostile United Nations bearing a bouquet of olive branches.

"Not to mention the fact that New York is now led by a mayor who is hostile to him personally and to Israel’s existence as the Jewish homeland.

"Had he delivered a subservient and apologetic tone on either front, Netanyahu would have been deserving of a serious head-shrinking examination.

Skills on full display

"And he would have faced hostile crowds when he returned home to Tel Aviv, as well as almost certain defeat in next month’s elections.

"And so the timing of the address dictated that it inevitably would be a plea to Israeli voters as well as a forceful message of defiance to the nations of the world — and Mayor Mamdani.

"My view is that Netanyahu achieved a smashing success on all fronts.

'Not that he necessarily changed a single mind anywhere, but that he made the best possible case for himself and his tiny and beleaguered country.

"As for the huge number of delegates who noisily walked out as Netanyahu took the podium, he called them “moral cowards.”

"True that, but they are also fools, for they missed a master class in how to simultaneously fight for your political future and your country.

"There are good reasons why Netanyahu has been prime minister for more years than any of Israel’s previous leaders.

"He’s a skilled tactician and has earned the gravitas that his long list of failed opponents have never been able to match.

"He’s also a brilliant speaker — no teleprompter needed Thursday — and has a clear-eyed view of his nation’s place in the world and its strengths and weaknesses.

"His theme, the very heart of the address, was that Israel must win every war it faces “because we have no other choice.”

"Defeat would mean total destruction and even elimination, the goal of Israel’s enemies now and throughout human history.

"He came to that survival of the fittest theme with a tender story about his late brother, Yonatan.

"The prime minister said his brother used those exact words during the Six-Day War in 1967 and echoed them when they met not long before Yonatan was killed in 1976 while heroically leading the rescue of more than 100 Israeli hostages whose plane had been hijacked by terrorists and sat on the ground in the airport in Entebbe, Uganda.

"From there, he cited Israel’s military prowess going back to earlier wars for its modern creation and against Arab neighbors, and its current role in fighting alongside the United States against a despotic Iran.

"From his unique vantage point, it is a long “battle against barbarians.”

"He also directly took on the false claims that Israel was guilty of committing “genocide” in Gaza and declared that the Israel Defense Forces are “the most moral army in the world.”

"Its opponents, he said, hate Israel and hate America.

Saluted Trump

"That is not to say that all criticism of him and the Jewish nation qualify as antisemitic, but there is no better example of his point than Iran’s long game of conquest.

"Ever since the Islamic revolution nearly 50 years ago, the mad mullahs and their thuggish agents and brutal armies have called Israel the “Little Satan” and America the “Great Satan” — and vowed to eliminate both.

"They have oppressed and slaughtered their own people, with tens of thousands executed and even tortured for daring to protest the government’s inept handling of the economy and even delivering the basics, such as electricity and clean drinking water.

"Donald Trump is the first American president to treat the Iranian brutality at home and threats abroad with the seriousness they deserve, especially since Iran embarked on its quest for nuclear weapons decades ago.

"Netanyahu saluted Trump for their partnership in the effort, even though Trump has lately been putting some distance between them as the president fights for his own standing and his Republican Party in the November midterms.

"The irony is that both men face political peril in part because of their alliance against Iran and its brutal proxies, and that peril explains Netanyahu’s defiant speech.

"More fully, he is battling for his political life in large part because many Israeli voters hold him responsible for failing to see the growing Hamas threat that led to the terrorists’ brutal invasion on Oct. 7, 2023.

"With 1,200 people killed, including many women and even children, it was the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

"Netanyahu’s ability to put off a national inquiry about what went wrong and why the invasion was a complete surprise to the military has angered many voters across the political spectrum and could cost him his job next month.

"In a clear instance of how he tried to rally his political base while at the UN, he criticized as overblown and exaggerated the widespread international criticism about Israeli settlers attacking and harassing Palestinians in the West Bank.  

‘Can’t silence truth’

"He put some distance between himself and the violent settlers, saying “I can’t stand them” as he touched his chest.

"That was mild compared to his contempt for Mayor Mamdani, saying that since his election, “many Jews don’t feel in New York.”

"It was a fitting broadside, given Mamdani’s bigoted attempt to have Netanyahu arrested as a “war criminal,” and the recent rise of antisemitism in what had been for decades the safest city in the world for Jews.

“Shame on you,” he said, and even threw a barbed jab at Mamdani’s wife for social media posts where she seemingly approved of Muslim violence against Jews.

“You tried to stop me,” he said, “but you can’t silence the truth.”

"Hallelujah to that."

Pray For The Ambassador's Son

At Powerline this morning, I read Scott Johnson's article about Neria Leiter, son of Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., who was attacked by a terrorist. 

As Amit Segal writes, "It’s Thursday, September 24, and less than a day after Macron explained to Israelis that Hamas is not active in Judea and Samaria, and three days since a Hamas gunman murdered Netanel Shukrun, a terrorist rammed a checkpoint, seriously wounding a reserve soldier, Neria Leiter, son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter.'

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Scott Johnson, 9-24-26

Too long a sacrifice

"Hearing of the critical injuries sustained by the son of Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter yesterday, I thought of Yeats’s lines from the poem “Easter 1916” — “Too long a sacrifice/Can make a stone of the heart.” The sacrifice of the Israelis is certainly too long, and yet the hardening of the heart is not in evidence.

"Leiter is the father of eight children. His oldest son was Major Moshe Leiter. He was killed in Gaza in 2023. Neria Leiter is one of his younger sons. He continued to serve in the IDF reserve after his brother’s death. Neria was the victim of a so-called car-ramming attack at an Israeli checkpoint on the West Bank yesterday. Ambassador Leiter has returned to Israel. “I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that when the people of Israel unite, miracles happen,” Leiter stated. “Neria needs a miracle.”

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Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter

@yechielleiter

I am grateful to the IDF, to the medical team at Shaare Zedek who are now fighting to save the life of Neria Dov ben Chana, and for the prayers of the people of Israel. I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that when the people of Israel unite, miracles happen. Neria needs a miracle. Neria continued to serve in the reserves after losing his older brother, Moshe Yedidya Leiter, of blessed memory. Since October 7th, he has served hundreds of days in the reserves on multiple fronts. Palestinian terrorism seeks to uproot the people of Israel from their land. They choose death - we choose life.

1:04 PM · Sep 23, 2026·

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"The Jerusalem Post reports that Neria “is currently in serious condition and is being treated at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. In a Wednesday night statement, the hospital announced that Neria had undergone a multi-hour brain surgery, alongside other treatments, and that ‘his condition remains very serious, and his life is in danger.'” JNS has more here.

"This morning Ambassador Leiter provided an update. Israel National News just posted Ambassador Leiter’s update below on X. Ambassador Leiter has also announced: “My eldest daughter Sarah, whose husband is fighting as a battalion commander of the Sakal Battalion, arrived at her brother’s bedside yesterday and suddenly her water broke – two weeks before the due date, and now she is lying in the delivery room 40 meters from her brother who is in intensive care.” 

Richard Goldberg comments: “[W]hen a man gets killed in cold blood while entering a ritual bath before Yom Kippur next to his son, and when an Ambassador’s son is car rammed by a terrorist, we need to be honest about what’s really going on. A culture of life, whose highest purpose is to raise thriving families in a Biblical homeland vs a culture of death whose highest purpose is to kill those families and drive them out of their homeland. The rest is politics.”

UPDATE: Since I wrote early this morning, I have receieved Amit Segal’s daily It’s Noon In Israel newsletter. He opens this morning’s newsletter with a discussion of Neria’s story.

Measles in Adults (Yes, Really.)

I will never understand why adults who should know better continue to be so apathetic and lackadaisical about getting vaccinated.

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CIDRAP Op-Ed: Measles is a grown-up problem, too. Are you at risk?

Jess Steier, DrPh, September 21, 2026

"On a recent rainy day, my kids and I were running through our list of rainy-day activities when laser tag came up. Then they asked, "Mama, will you play with us?" 

"Huh? Laser tag is a kids' activity (or so I thought). I called the place to ask, and it turns out adults are allowed and it's apparently very popular with them. I had no clue, because every laser tag invitation that has ever come through my house had a cartoon on it and a request to RSVP for an 8-year-old’s party. It hadn't occurred to me that it was an option for me.

"Measles has a similar problem. Nearly everything the public hears about it involves children, whether it's the childhood schedule, kindergarten vaccination rates, school exclusions, or babies who are too young for their first dose. Much of the media attention on Pennsylvania's outbreak has centered on the two infants who died in August. That attention is warranted, since those deaths are tragic, babies don't typically get their first measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine dose until 12 months, and children under 5 are hospitalized at some of the highest rates of any age-group. 

"When children are the only people we picture with measles, though, adults process it the same way I did laser tag, as something that isn't meant for them, and this year's data show otherwise. 

4 in 10 US measles cases this year are in adults

"According to CDC's latest data, 38% of confirmed measles cases in 2026 (1,305 of 3,471) are in people 20 and older, up from 29% in 2025. Adults are being hospitalized at a rate of 12%, about the same as children under 5 years (13%) and three times the rate for school-aged kids and teens (4%). They account for 156 of this year's 301 measles hospitalizations, or just over half. In Pennsylvania, the hardest-hit state, the share is even higher. About seven in 10 cases this year are in people 18 and older, and the largest single age-group is 25 to 49. 

"This week, Pennsylvania reported its third and fourth measles-associated deaths of the year, in a 40-year-old woman in Jefferson County and an 18-year-old in Mifflin County who died of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a rare neurologic condition that can follow measles. Neither was vaccinated. The last time the US reported four measles deaths in a single year was 1992. One of last year's three deaths was also involved an adult, in New Mexico, so three of the seven US measles deaths reported since the start of 2025 were in people 18 or older.

"The Jefferson County coroner listed the woman's cause of death as respiratory failure due to measles, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma. His office noted that many people think of measles as a childhood illness, when in fact it can cause severe complications at any age. Chronic conditions like hers are common among adults and become more so with age, and plenty of people are inside a higher-risk category without knowing it, because nobody has ever told them their condition counts.

Why more adults are getting measles, and why it can hit them hard

"Before the vaccine arrived in 1963, measles was largely a disease of young children, because nearly everyone caught it early in life. Once vaccination became widespread, people who were never vaccinated could grow up without encountering the virus, since the vaccinated people around them kept it away. Kindergarten MMR coverage has fallen from 95.2% in 2019-2020 to 92.4% last school year, measles has been reported in 47 jurisdictions, and those still-susceptible adolescents and adults are now being exposed for the first time.

"Adulthood is also a riskier time to have measles than most people assume. The risk of severe complications, including pneumonia and brain inflammation, is highest in children under 5 and adults over 20. Measles during pregnancy raises the risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, and low birth weight. Measles can also cause immune amnesia, a temporary loss of immune protection against infections the body had already fought off, that can last months to years. 

"A 2019 case report from Dresden, Germany describes two adults who came to the emergency department with measles. A 40-year-old man with pneumonia recovered in 12 days. A 55-year-old woman improved quickly at first and then, within days, lost the ability to organize her daily activities, dress herself, or start a conversation, and she needed neurologic rehabilitation. Neither had vaccination records. 

"The authors urged fellow clinicians to consider measles in adults who show up with a fever and a rash. That reminder is just as (if not more) important today with measles cases rapidly climbing.

Adults tune out messages that seem to be about someone else's kids

"My last piece was about how a message focused on older adults and the immunocompromised signals to people outside those categories that the disease isn't about them. Framing measles as a childhood disease does the same thing to adults. 

"Adults who hear measles news as a story about other people's children have no reason to look for their own records, to ask about a second vaccine dose before an international trip, or to think of measles when they come down with a fever and a rash and head to a crowded waiting room. Many adults also assume that whatever they received as kids still protects them, and for some of them, that isn't the case.

What to do if you're not sure you're protected

1. If you were born before 1957, you're presumed immune, because nearly everyone was infected during childhood before vaccines were available. Healthcare workers are the exception and should check with their employer.
2. If you have written records of two doses given after your first birthday (and at least 28 days apart), you're considered protected, and you don't need another dose or a blood test to confirm it. Two doses are about 97% effective, and one dose is about 93% effective. (Absolutely incredible.)
3. If you were vaccinated from 1963 to 1967, you may have received an inactivated (killed) version of the vaccine that was withdrawn because it didn't protect well. Fewer than 1 million people received it, but most don't know which type they received. If that's what you got, or you don't know, talk to your clinician about being revaccinated.
4. If you have one documented dose (which is common for people who were kids before the second dose was recommended in 1989), that's considered enough for most adults. Two doses are recommended for college students, healthcare personnel, international travelers, people with HIV, and close contacts of immunocompromised people. Health departments sometimes recommend a second dose for adults in outbreak areas, and yours will say so if it applies to you.
5. If you have no records and no idea, try your state's immunization registry, your parents, your childhood doctor's office, and old school, college, military, or employer files. If nothing turns up, CDC recommends getting an MMR dose and says there's no harm in getting another dose if you may already be immune.
6. A blood test for antibodies (a titer) is the other option, but for most adults the extra dose makes more sense. The titer adds a step (since a low result sends you back for the vaccine anyway), and it can add lab fees and copays. It also gives an incomplete picture, because it measures only the antibodies circulating in your blood and says nothing about the memory cells that are a big part of lasting protection. Commercial tests can also miss low levels of vaccine-induced antibodies, so a vaccinated person can get a low reading and still be protected. (Titers still have a place for people who can't get a live vaccine and for jobs or schools that require them.)
7. MMR is a live vaccine, so it isn't given during pregnancy or to people with severely weakened immune systems. If you're planning a pregnancy, check your status beforehand and wait a month after vaccination before trying to conceive. If you’ve been exposed to measles and can’t confirm that you’re protected, call your clinician right away. An MMR dose within 72 hours of exposure may give some protection, or at the very least, a milder illness. If you can’t be vaccinated, or if you’re at high risk of severe infection, immune globulin can lower your risk if it's given within six days of exposure.
8. If you think you have measles, call ahead so the clinic can keep you out of the waiting room.

"The MMR vaccine is on the childhood schedule, and it's also available to adults at many pharmacies, often without an appointment. I found out laser tag was an option for me only because my kids asked, so consider this me asking you. 

"As for laser tag, we ended up staying in, popping some popcorn, and watching Enola Holmes, because nobody felt like getting out of pajamas. It's in my future, though, and I'll let you know how badly I lose."

Your Local Epidemiologist-The Dose, 9-22-26

I got my new COVID shot (mNEXSPIKE) today and have gotten the flu and pneumonia vaccines in the past two weeks. They're available, if you're willing to be vaccinated.

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Your Local Epidemiologist 9-22-26

Where are the fall vaccines? Plus Covid-19 and norovirus, and what another measles death means.

Katelyn Jetelina, Sep 22, 2026

I practically live at the airport these days, so for better or worse, I can tell when behaviors shift. Yesterday, it was obvious: More coughing, mask wearing, kids wiping noses on whatever was closest.

Fall sick season isn’t officially here (although Covid definitely is) but its stirring. There is a problem, though: federal disarray is slowing the rollout of fall vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. So access to protection is tougher than it should be right now. The good news is there are things we can do, including a resource below.

Here’s what’s going on in the world of health and what it may mean to you.

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Disease “weather” report

Is Covid-19 peaking? Yes and no

The data story for Covid-19 right now is definitely region-specific. The magnitude and direction of the wave differ depending on where you live:

• The West is definitely having a wave right now, and it’s not letting up.

• The Midwest and Northeast are also still growing, but the wave’s height is lower than it was last winter and last summer.

• The South seems to have peaked, after having a mild summer wave.

Covid-19 wastewater levels, by region. Source: Biobot

Emergency department visits that are increasing, decreasing, or staying the same. Source: CDC

What this means for you: We are in the middle of a Covid-19 wave and it’s still worth getting vaccinated, especially if you’re high risk.

Norovirus: Starting to increase again

Norovirus—think puking, diarrhea, and misery—is starting to increase again, and right on schedule. Norovirus season is pretty long, so we should expect illness to peak in early spring.

This pathogen is a booger: it is very contagious, primarily spreads through contaminated surfaces, such as doorknobs and toys, and it’s also really hard to kill with cleaning products because it has a protective membrane.

Number of norovirus tests coming back positive. Source: CDC.

What this means for you: If you have the stomach bug, use a separate bathroom in your house and wear a mask if possible. Hand sanitizer doesn’t kill it—soap and water are your best bet.

Measles: The PA outbreak is much bigger than you think

In pretty astounding and depressing news, Pennsylvania reported its fourth measles-associated death in its outbreak. This marks the most measles deaths in the U.S. since 1992. (No, the CDC still hasn’t acknowledged a single death on its website, which is astounding in and of itself.)

The state has reported nearly 800 cases, but measles typically causes 1 to 3 deaths per 1,000 unvaccinated cases. So… how does that math make sense?

It comes down to the denominator. Confirmed cases are the cases we know about; there are a whole lot of cases that are never recorded. In fact, for every reported case, there are about 10 cases not reported. This is especially true when community members are hesitant to engage with public health and health care systems, making case investigation and testing difficult.

So, the “true” PA outbreak is likely 1,300-4,000 cases.

Of course, there’s another possibility: this could simply be a statistical anomaly. Three deaths among a few hundred cases isn’t impossible—it’s just extremely rare. We’ve seen similar situations before. In 1991, for example, an outbreak in Philadelphia caused 1,400 cases and 9 pediatric deaths. In that case, religious leaders discouraged medical care, relying on prayer instead.

What this means for you: Whether this is an undercount or an outlier, one thing is clear: we are in new, unsettling territory. Here is a YLE deep dive on 10 FAQs on MMR and Measles Protection. No, you likely don’t need an MMR booster.

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Spotlight: Why you may be having a hard time finding fall vaccines

Respiratory vaccines—for flu, RSV, and Covid-19—should be available at no cost this fall. But the federal government has created snags, so you may not be able to access them yet.

Here’s what’s going on.

RSV monoclonal antibodies: Low stock

RSV is a big deal for kiddos; just ask any mom who has had to sit with their baby in the hospital. In fact, it’s the leading cause of hospitalizations for kiddos (see graph below).

Source: CDC ACIP slide from 2024.

But this year, clinics and hospitals are ordering fewer doses of monoclonal antibodies—shots that protect babies under 8 months from RSV—than needed. They’re worried they’ll get stuck with the bill if insurance doesn’t cover it.

• Why? CDC’s vaccine advisory group (ACIP) normally updates its recommendations as medical evidence evolves, but under RFK Jr., that process has completely stalled. Meanwhile, new science shows more high-risk babies should get this shot, so AAP updated its recommendation, but CDC recommendations are still stuck in last year. Since insurance follows the CDC, not the AAP, physicians aren’t sure whether insurance will cover the extra babies.

Covid-19 vaccines: Delays and access problems

Two things are happening on the Covid-19 front:

• Adults in a handful of states will have trouble getting them at pharmacies. Most states have decoupled from federal guidance, so most Americans can get a Covid-19 vaccine at a pharmacy. However, this isn’t the case in a handful of states, like Louisiana. (Sorry I don’t have a full state list because it’s changing every day; many are trying to actively fix this). More than 80% of people get their Covid-19 vaccines at pharmacies.

• Pediatric vaccine delays everywhere: The Vaccines for Children, a federal program that purchases more than half of childhood vaccines in the U.S., requires sign-off before they can actually ship them to states. This approval is being held up at the CDC Director level for reasons that are very unclear (and potentially concerning if delivery is stopped for political reasons). This means it’s unlikely your kid can get a Covid-19 vaccine at this time.

Flu: Running normally

• People are getting vaccinated (including my kids!), and insurance coverage (private and public) is fine, including for the new mRNA vaccine.

There is still time to iron out these snags, but if things don’t get sorted by October, I will really start worrying about those at high risk, family disruptions (like missing school), and hospital capacity this fall and winter.

What this means for you: Don’t give up finding protection for you and your family. Have patience with your physician and pharmacy office; these snags are above their pay grade.

That said, bottom-up advocacy helps. If you have trouble, voice your concerns to your physician’s office, insurance company, pharmacy manager, or whoever is in charge to ensure they are aware of the problem. Eventually, the systems will hear it.

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Good news

• Silver lining in the PA measles outbreak: more families are getting protected. The number of people getting vaccinated has nearly doubled. In August 2026 alone, more than 46,000 MMR vaccines were administered, double the typical monthly rate of about 25,000. While I wish we didn’t live in a reactive society, it’s the reality, and I will take this as a win!

• Malaria vaccines are working at scale. After decades of failed attempts, two vaccines are now part of routine childhood immunization in 25 African countries. Malaria kills ~600,000 people a year, mostly kids under five, so it’s great to hear that Burkina Faso saw a 32% drop in total cases after rollout and Cameroon reported a 17% drop. The one worry: funding cuts are already causing spikes in cases in a few countries, even as the vaccine expands elsewhere.

• Worth watching: scientists are fighting NIH grant censorship. Researchers backed by the ACLU filed a class-action suit (Sept 16) alleging NIH uses a 235-keyword blacklist to flag already peer-reviewed grants for termination. This suit asks a judge to order the NIH to restore the funding cuts, which could mean money flowing back into research.

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Grab bag: Resource for faith communities

“This may seem way out of scope, but my pastor is interested in sharing information about fall vaccines. Do you have any tips or resources that I could give him?”

I love this!!! It’s important that vaccine information isn’t approached as a deficit here (people don’t need more data and facts) but rather is aligned with their value systems. For many people, science and faith are not opposing forces, but complementary ways of understanding the world. The two can, and often do, coexist without requiring the rejection of medical or scientific evidence.

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That’s your public health news you can use for the week! Get your fall vaccines as you’re able, wash those hands, and keep looking for the good news—it’s out there.

Love, YLE

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Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with one goal: to “translate” ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. The YLE suite of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132 countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members.

Rabbi: "Unhinged, Obsessive Loathing of Israel is Corrupting US Values"

U.S. values have been going downhill for years. Just look at things like the hatred of ICE and the police; and the so-called "teen takeovers" that are out of control; a mother celebrated for strangling to death her children; illegal aliens and coddled criminals murdering innocent people; and on and on.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is right about the Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred which have always been here, but which exploded right after the October 7, 2023 Hamas pogrom against Israel. Rather than protest against the brutality of Hamas, these insane people protested against Israel and we Jews in an unapologetically brazen way you had rarely heard in the past. I had never heard antisemitism expressed so openly and blatantly before, and because I always wear a Star of David, I now feel threatened enough to keep a self-defense tool handy. 

I doubt it will get better any time soon, especially now with the evil Democrat Socialists trying to get into power and using hatred of Jews and Israel as part of their sick platform.  They don't even try to hide it any more.  So-called NYC "Mayor" Mandani openly called for Netantahu's arrest.  Some of these "leaders" would have been at home in Nazi Germany.  Still it's good for American Jews to know that men of decency like Rabbi Hirsch have our back.

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The Times of Israel 9-21-26

Leading US Reform rabbi in Yom Kippur sermon: Unhinged, obsessive loathing of Israel is corrupting US values

Ammiel Hirsch warns that if Jew-hatred is allowed to spread, ‘it is not only Jews who will pay the price, America will too’; says Jewish voters should only back politicans ‘who support us’

NEW YORK — Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, a leading voice in the US Reform community, in his Yom Kippur sermon on Monday called on Jews to hedge their support for politicians, urged young Jews to take leadership roles amid rising hostility in the US, and warned that hatred of Israel was corrupting the US.

“My advice to the Jewish community is to support only politicians who support us and our liberal vision for America. Do not give to organizations that in the past may have allied with us, but so betrayed us after October 7,” he said.

Hirsch is a leader in the Reform movement in North America and the senior rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan, one of the city’s most prominent Reform institutions.

He has consistently pushed for continued attachment to Israel, and opposed anti-Zionist activity, in recent years, as the Reform community, the largest denomination in the US, has contended with discrimination, anti-Zionist activism and hostile politics.

In his Yom Kippur speech, he drew a continuity between historical persecution of Jews and contemporary discrimination, saying, “To be a Jew is to be part of a nation that others seek to harm.”

“While pervasive anti-Jewish hostility is not new, it is new to us. We grew up in what has been described as the ‘Golden Age’ of American Jewry,” he said, according to a transcript shared with The Times of Israel before the speech. “It is this clear and obvious change that has so unnerved us.”

Jews are targeted in hate crimes far more than any other group in New York City, with at least 229 confirmed antisemitic hate crimes so far this year, according to NYPD data.

Hirsch warned that hatred of Israel and animosity toward Jews in politics, the intellectual sphere and online were damaging US society. Other Jewish leaders, such as the historian Deborah Lipstadt, have repeatedly warned that antisemitism is a harbinger of societal deterioration.

“Jew-hatred is harming America. We are not only worried about ourselves. We are worried about the country we love,” Hirsch said. “Unhinged and obsessive loathing of Israel is corrupting American values. If allowed to spread, it is not only Jews who will pay the price. America will too.” 

Hirsch called on Jews to “stay and fight” for the US, New York and the US Jewish community through protesting, advocacy, lobbying and political activity.

“Do not be enslaved to political tribes. The hatred exists on both the right and the left,” he said.

The speech came amid a fraught political season for centrist Jews. Most American Jews, and a large majority of Reform Jews, are Democrats. The party’s turn against Israel has put many Jewish Democrats in a bind as they navigate their allegiance to the party and the left with concerns about Jewish community welfare.

The Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, for example, has unnerved Jews with his harsh criticism of Israel, alliance with the extremist streamer Hasan Piker, and comments including the perceived justification of an attempted terror attack on a synagogue.

His candidacy, which could determine the Senate majority, has roiled Jews in the state. Some have called on the party to agree to a list of “nonnegotiable” principles about Jewish safety, others have broken with their past allegiance to the party, and some have urged the community to vote for El-Sayed.

In New York, anti-Zionist politicians have won a series of elections for the House and local office. Darializa Avila Chevalier, who attended a celebratory rally on October 8, 2023, won her House primary earlier this year for the district adjacent to the synagogue.

“We should continue to support causes that promote the general welfare of all Americans,” Hirsch said. “But before you donate your time or financial resources, inquire, research and ask these agencies what are their views of Jews, Israel and October 7.”

He called on younger Jews to assert themselves “on the field of ideas and values.”

Polls have found that younger American Jews are more critical of Israel, in a break from the older generations, while other young Jews have taken on leadership roles amid the turmoil in areas like the nearby Columbia University.

“You have the opportunity to be a great generation. Challenging times bring out strengths we never knew we had. Be heroic,” Hirsch said. “Join the struggle. Do not sit it out. That is as good a definition of a hero as anything –- a person who, when needed, cannot sit it out.”

In an interview, Hirsch said he did not view his call to withhold political support as controversial.

“That’s what politics is about. You support people who have your values and want to further your values, and you oppose people who oppose your values,” he said.

He added that he was non-partisan, was not “telling people how to vote,” acknowledged that voters are motivated by an array of issues, and viewed antisemitism as a problem on both the left and the right.

“It places on those members of the American Jewish community who are supportive of candidates an extra obligation to speak the truth to their own, to rebuke their own,” he said. “I don’t think it’s ever good politics for an electoral group to be taken for granted, and I don’t think that’s good politics for American Jews either.”

He described hatred of Israel as “unhinged and obsessive and reflexive,” and echoing antisemitic tropes by treating the Jewish state as “opposing everything that you think is good and noble.”

Such antisemitism, in every society where it has occurred, has damaged the society itself, he said.

Hirsch added that Israel, despite its “challenges,” is an American ally, part of the Western world and “confronting forces that seek to destroy the West.”

“Israel is fighting the civilizational struggle of those who seek to break down Western civilization,” he said. “Obsessive hatred and unhinged hatred — it’s opposed to reason and pluralism, which form the heart of Western civilization.”