These lines are to commemorate my spectacular failure to win the North Street Book Prize with my 2024 collection “After Spruce: Poems in the Manner of Tom Jenks’ ‘Spruce’ During the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic”.

Originally published Infection House July 2020

#ExperimentalPoetry #poem #poetry #PoetryCollection #PoetryCommunity #WritingCommunity #Australia #UnitedStates #coronavirus #COVID19 #pandemic #DonaldJTrump #ScottMorrison #GladysBerejiklian #HorseshoeBats #OnlineMigration #OldNormal #SanitiserFatigue #ExponentialGrowth #PanicBuying #Asymptomatic #LafayettePark #FlatteningTheCurve #ZombieBusiness #HerdImmunity #RespiratoryDroplets

#US #vaccination rates are plunging. Look up where your #school stands.
Rocked by pandemic politics, the nation’s shield against infectious disease is shrinking.
Before the pandemic, roughly half of counties had #kindergarten #vaccinationrates high enough to prevent #measles #outbreaks.
After, many lost ground, leaving only about a quarter of the counties with #herdimmunity in kindergartners.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2025/measles-vaccine-schools-outbreaks-public-health/
https://archive.ph/b9DqZ
As U.S. vaccination rates fall, see how your school compares

Take a look to see what the kindergarten measles vaccination rates are in your area.

The Washington Post

@overholt This is an excellent reminder, thankyou!

Somehow I assumed some vaccines need a booster every 10 or so years and other vaccines last for your entire lifetime. But, occasionally the protection they offer can wane over time. Imagine my surprise when a friend (who received the usual suite of vaccines as a young kid) was recently tested for immunity, and the result indicated they have little or no defence against measles. Naturally, they got a fresh vaccine immediately.

There's a disturbing amount of science-denial and anti-vax nonsense going around. Predictably, this is leading to a sharp rise in highly-infectious communicable diseases going around in the community. I can only encourage people to ask their doctor about getting tested, protect themselves, and to do your part to boost herd immunity because it's an easy way to be being caring and protective of other people.

#Health #Medicine #Measles #MMR #Vaccines #VaccinesSaveLives #HerdImmunity #AntiVax

#MartinKulldorff formerly taught at Harvard’s medical school until he was fired in 2024 for what he claimed was his refusal to receive the #COVID-19 vaccine. He was also an author of the “Great Barrington Declaration,” which called for promoting #HerdImmunity early on in the pandemic by allowing the #virus to spread unmitigated.

#PublicHealth #HealthCare #science #medicine #Trump #RFKJr #disinformation #law #policy #regulations #insurance #HealthyIfYoureWealthy #SocialCleansing #eugenics

Protected bike lanes are like giving your entire community a mobility vaccination - every mode of travel receives the safety benefits, not just bikers #CompleteStreets = #HerdImmunity

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:wqzrci2nmdx5qmc4imdt2a65/post/3lys3kzzfic2v
Vaccine exemption requests in Texas spike in July, as some experts fear more families will opt out

Federal funding cuts to immunization efforts and a new law that allows exemption forms to be downloaded, instead of mailed, could drive up exemptions in the future.

Houston Public Media

@kityates

But since 2020 we learned herd immunity is getting infected every year 🙄

#herdimmunity

“Not Just #Measles”: #WhoopingCough Cases Are Soaring as #Vaccine Rates Decline
Measles #Vaccination Rates in Most States Were Below #HerdImmunity in #2023
Over 36 states have drop in rates for at least one key vaccine from 2013-14 to 2023-24 school years. And half of states have seen an across-board decline in all four vaccination rates. #Wisconsin, #Utah and #Alaska have experienced most precipitous drops during that time, with declines of more than 10% in some cases.
https://www.propublica.org/article/whooping-cough-measles-outbreak-vaccine-hesitancy-trump
“Not Just Measles”: Whooping Cough Cases Are Soaring as Vaccine Rates Decline

While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak, experts warn that whooping cough and other preventable diseases could get much worse with falling vaccination rates and Trump’s slashing of public health infrastructure.

ProPublica

This is a tragedy, and I feel with the family. There is nothing personal in this post. I do not know the individuals or the exact circumstances.

Nevertheless, a child dies unnecessarily from #measles in #Liverpool. This is a disease that we most probably could eradicate by #vaccination. However, we are moving backwards into darker times. More and more people refuse #vaccines that make our lives safer (personally and as a society). Parents put their children's lives and the lives of immunocompromised individuals, who depend on #HerdImmunity, unnecessarily at risk.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/measles-outbreak-liverpool-vaccine-rate-zsvf8m3vn

Measles outbreak: child dies in Liverpool as vaccine rate plunges

The death in a city where one in four young children are unprotected is fuelling warnings that the virus could spread like ‘wildfire’

The Sunday Times