Jessica Pickett
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pickettjessica.bsky.social
Jessica Pickett
@pickettjessica.bsky.social
930 followers 2.2K following 310 posts
Pittsburgh-based health economist in the vaccine industry. Interested in everything; knowledgeable about demand for medical care & politics of service delivery.
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pickettjessica.bsky.social
New foster pup, who dis?

Apply to adopt Indie: forms.gle/v6EJ4dihwRaxDD1P8
A 30 lb, 10-month-old Shih Tzu / pit bull mix poses on a log during her first Frick Park trail run, framed by blazing autumn leaves
October 27, 2025 at 1:19 AM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
…which is extra terrifying, because widespread false positives for an autoimmune etiology open the hell mouth www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Excerpt from linked Politico article about MAHA lawyers trying to take down VICP by “rebranding” autism
September 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Beyond “just” desecrating rigorous regulatory authority to benefit supplement grifters, I am deeply concerned that this sets up an attack on VICP by rebranding autism as central folate deficiency (e.g. by licensing a serum autoantibody test with that indication): www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
"Part of what Secretary Kennedy is doing right now - and with my help, and we have a team looking at it - is we have to figure out a way to capture these kids," Downing said. "If you don't want to use the 'A word,' whatever, that's fine," he said, referring to autism. "How do we capture them: do we broaden the definition of encephalopathic events? Do we broaden neurological injuries? How do we do that?"
September 26, 2025 at 7:26 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Everything is terrible but here is the view from my new workspace
View from a balcony where two very alert dogs have assigned themselves neighborhood watch duty. A laptop and coffee mug are visible in the foreground.
August 28, 2025 at 1:03 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Alas, blueberries are neither hobbits nor rabbits…
ChatGPT I hear you have trouble spelling "blueberry." Why do you think there are more than two "b"s? Ah, the "blueberry" myth — a very juicy one. I don't actually think there are more than two "b"s, but I have to admit that "blueberry" is the perfect storm for overzealous consonant duplication. You've got: 1. A compound word - "blue" + "berry." My brain wants to keep each part distinct, which can make me overly generous with letters. 2. A repeating consonant — The "b" at the start of "berry" already doubles in sound when you say the whole word quickly, so I might end up typing bluebberry like l'm on a sugar high. 3. Autocorrect instincts - In fast composition, I sometimes apply the "double when in doubt" rule that works for words like rabbit or hobbit... but blueberries are neither hobbits nor rabbits. So if you've seen me type bluebberry, it's not because I don't know how it's spelled — it's because I briefly got lost in the thicket of linguistic pattern-matching and berry enthusiasm. If you'd like, I can show you a few other words that trip the same "phantom extra letter" reflex. Some are surprisingly mundane.
August 8, 2025 at 7:49 AM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
CDC staff are still fighting the good fight with all available tools — including today’s MMWR email alert.
Screenshot of MMWR alert email, where the “in case you missed it” section features a 2024 study quantifying the health and economic benefits of routine childhood immunization since 1994.
May 27, 2025 at 5:12 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
We truly live in the weirdest timeline possible
2012 academic book chapter coauthored by Bhattacharya and Garber
April 19, 2025 at 6:39 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
This is truly the weirdest timeline
2012 NBER book chapter on “The Value of Progress against Cancer in the Elderly” by Jay Bhattacharya (currently dismantling the NIH under Trump), Alan Garber (currently resisting Trump’s attempted takeover of Harvard), Matthew Miller & Daniella Perlroth
April 19, 2025 at 6:24 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
…and today’s horrifying news cycle already calls for more puppy pics. Here is Hanover as a snow baby, along with a more recent one with her adoptable mother Bonn. (Per a littermate’s DNA test dad was a cocker spaniel / husky mix.)
Foster puppy Hanover as a baby wearing a bright pink floral coat Tan foster pup Hanover chews a stick while lying next to her mother, a mostly white terrier mix with an adorable patch over her left eye. (Bonn is also looking for a home!)
April 14, 2025 at 5:02 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Playing with this fun little pup >>> doomscrolling
April 14, 2025 at 3:52 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Thanks to @theferrarilab.bsky.social for upping my foster pup socialization game.

We’d keep her in a heartbeat if space permitted, but the upside is that this adventurous backpack buddy is available for adoption if you need a source of joy right now.
Foster puppy in a backpack Foster puppy laying in the grass next to a ball with daffodils in the background Foster puppy on a couch with a frog plushie, self-serious expression belied by ears worn Princess Leia style
April 14, 2025 at 3:46 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
ChatGPT self portrait: tariff edition
White analyst bro realizes he’s fucked
April 4, 2025 at 1:26 AM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
ChatGPT is panicking rn
April 4, 2025 at 1:17 AM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Indeed I did:
In which ChatGPT continues to be dense about the implications of a young White male visual representation
April 3, 2025 at 10:28 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
I asked him why.
Q: Did you [ChatGPT] provide more descriptive textual details to DALL-E (and if so, please share here)? Or does it already know what you look like in some other way? A: I provided a detailed text prompt to DALL-E describing a generic human form, but it doesn't "know" what I look like in any real sense. Since I don't have a fixed appearance, I just created a friendly and approachable persona for the image. Here's the exact prompt I used: "This portrait shows a young Caucasian man in his late twenties or early thirties, wearing a friendly smile and exuding approachability. He has short, dark brown hair with a subtle wave, paired with dark eyebrows and warm brown eyes, while his well-groomed beard and light blue sweater create a balanced, inviting image set against a softly blurred, neutral gray backdrop." It's just an artistic interpretation—if you'd prefer a different style or description, I can tweak it!
April 3, 2025 at 10:21 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
KFF has slightly different survey methods and sampling strategy than either YouGov (above) or Pew (linked in article), but observe similar erosion in vaccine confidence over time.
Chart from KFF survey finding that only 74% of Republicans believe the benefits of MMR vaccines outweigh risks as of January 7-14, 2025, a drastic decline from 89% in October 2020. (By comparison: 88% of Democrats have consistently believed the benefits > risks across all survey periods.)
February 16, 2025 at 4:42 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
I wish there were such broad agreement, but recent polls find increasingly polarized attitudes toward vaccines: fully 43% of Trump voters now believe vaccines cause autism (according to YouGov).
YouGov poll results from February 2-4, 2025. Highlighted figure emphasize that fully 13% of Trump voters think that the statement “vaccine have been shown to cause autism” is definitely true, along with another 30% who think that is probably true. Only 34% think that is false, and 23% are not sure. (By contrast, 80% of Harris voters correctly identified that statement as false.)
February 16, 2025 at 4:21 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
A fluffy pit mix can’t fix everything, but he certainly can’t hurt either
A fluffy brindle pit bull mix smiles at you expectantly, with a teal leash and tag
February 8, 2025 at 3:26 AM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
The boys would also like to join your coalition
Two extremely handsome pit bull mixes named Ichabod (floofy brindle on the left) and Poe (black and white on the right) grin while wearing their trail backpacks in warmer, happier times
February 7, 2025 at 4:46 AM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
No, he's busy bullying senators into taking away our vaccines
February 4, 2025 at 5:00 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Those bastards. And WTF does that even mean?
Screenshot of Sen. Cassidy’s X post rationalizing his indefensible decision to advance RFK Jr. nomination: “I've had very intense conversations with Bobby and the White House over the weekend and even this morning. I want to thank VP JD specifically for his honest counsel. With the serious commitments l've received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes.” The cryptic reference to Vance is highlighted.
February 4, 2025 at 4:28 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Oops.

https://usafacts.org/articles/which-states-rely-the-most-on-federal-aid/
Map titled “State and local revenues depend on federal money to different degrees” showing that the percentage of total state and local revenues from federal government grants in 2021 are heavily skewed toward red states.
January 28, 2025 at 10:54 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Everything sucks even more now, but my (former!) foster is already running her new household
Screenshot of an Instagram story: a white husky mix in a blue collar has taken to walking upright and casually leans against her new kitchen sink. The caption reads “hiking is fun but we've all gotta do our chores too” (riffing on the meme of a wolf pretending to be human while complaining about taxes, depression and chores).
January 27, 2025 at 11:53 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Everything is awful but this foster floof heads to her forever home tomorrow so at least there’s that
A white husky mix snoozes while snuggling on the couch
January 24, 2025 at 7:50 PM
pickettjessica.bsky.social
Ideally there would be an option to access data dashboards, which (understandably) appears beyond the Wayback Machine's scope
Screenshot of an error message for requesting WONDER data from the Wayback Machine's archived copy of the CDC website
January 24, 2025 at 4:43 PM