Compounds & interventions

Vaccines

Public Health · covered by 105 outlets this week · tracked since 2026-10-27

Press: 71 mainstream 260 specialist 118 independent outlet-days

What it is

Evidence 10/10 · thoroughly established Uneven · 4–10 by use Signals · signals observed in trials

Vaccines train the immune system against a pathogen before infection, and they remain the medical intervention with the strongest population-level evidence. Coverage on Alivewire mixes routine science (new RSV, flu and cancer vaccines, mRNA platforms) with the politics of vaccine policy, falling childhood uptake in several countries, and a persistent stream of safety claims that are far louder than the underlying case reports. Treat single-case safety stories as questions, not findings.

The score describes routine childhood and adult vaccines (measles, polio, HPV, flu, COVID-19, RSV), which rest on decades of trials and surveillance. Therapeutic cancer vaccines and several newer mRNA candidates are still in trials.

Evidence by use or claim · 1 preclinical to 10 thoroughly established

  1. Routine childhood vaccines (measles, polio, pertussis, Hib)10/10 · thoroughly established

    Decades of trials and surveillance; disease elimination where coverage is high.

  2. HPV10/10 · thoroughly established

    Population studies show large falls in cervical pre-cancer and cancer.

  3. COVID-199/10 · thoroughly established

    Large trials and billions of doses; protection against severe disease holds, against infection wanes.

  4. Influenza9/10 · thoroughly established

    Long record; effectiveness varies by season, roughly 20 to 60 percent against illness.

  5. RSV (older adults and pregnancy)8/10 · established for some uses

    Approved in 2023 after large trials; real-world data accumulating.

  6. Therapeutic cancer vaccines4/10 · early human evidence

    One approved since 2010 (sipuleucel-T); personalised mRNA vaccines in phase 3.

  • TrialmRNA COVID-19 vaccines carry a small observed risk of myocarditis, concentrated in young men after the second dose; most cases were mild and resolved. source
  • TrialGuillain-Barré syndrome has been seen after some flu and RSV vaccines at roughly one to two extra cases per million doses, and appears on those labels.
  • MarketApproved and recommended in national schedules worldwide; the active debate in coverage is policy and uptake, not whether they work.

This week · GSK and Moderna settled their global patent dispute over mRNA COVID-19 and RSV vaccines.

Written by the Alivewire editors from the coverage below, 3d ago; rated 2d ago. Not medical advice; how the ratings work.

Coverage