NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-19-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

NPR News: 09-19-2025 11AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright. A vaccine advisory panel to the CDC is meeting for a second day to discuss making changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. In a re-vote, the committee now says it will allow a federal program to pay for MMRV immunizations to protect against measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox. That is a reversal from what the panel decided yesterday. Separately, the committee has voted to stop recommending the country. combined MMRV shots for children under four. NPR's Ping Huang reports. This has been a highly unusual meeting. There are 12 members. They're new since June when Kennedy fired all the previous members, and they have come with a new approach. They're challenging

years of established vaccine science, and they're digging deep into old data to try and find evidence of harms. And throughout the meeting, there's been clashes between the new members and with members of the medical establishment. The committee voted to table action on whether to delay the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine. Some members said they need more information. South Korea's foreign minister says his country will try to address visa issues for South Korean workers headed to the U.S. before delivering $350 billion in pledged investments. NPR's Anthony Kuhn has more. Since immigration authorities raided a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia this month, detaining more than 300 Korean workers, South Korea has requested a new visa

category for its skilled workers. Cho-Hun is South Korea's foreign minister. Resolving the visa issue is not a precondition for investments in the U.S., but realistically speaking, it's a very important issue, Cho told reporters, we will make our best effort to resolve the visa issue one way or another before actual investments begin, he said. U.S. officials have expressed regret about the raid, and President Trump has confirmed the need for Korean workers to come to the U.S. to build factories and train American workers. Anthony Kuhn in PR News, Seoul. Climate change is affecting people's health across the world and the costs are staggering. NPR's Alejandra Barunda reports on a new analysis published in the

journal Nature Climate Change. As the planet heats up, people's health is taking a big hit. Extreme heat may have cost tens of thousands of lives this summer in Europe alone. Wildfire smoke hurts people's hearts, lungs, and even brains. Extreme weather leads to premature death. And a warming planet is leading to more mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever. Adding up all the costs of climate-related deaths each year comes to a big number. According to the new analysis, at least $10 billion and likely much more. Heat-related deaths worldwide alone could cost $30 billion a year. But those health impacts and costs are rarely considered in climate negotiations. If they were, the author suggests the value of taking climate action would be clearer. This is NPR.

The House has voted 217 to 212 to approve a short-term spending bill to fund the government through November 21st. All but one Democrat voted against the measure. The Senate is scheduled to vote later today on two different spending measures, one sponsored by Democrats, the other by Republicans. Neither option is expected to pass, and it's unclear when they may take up the House pass bill. Pamplona, Spain is known for its annual running of the Bulls. Things do kick off with a super-crowded festival every summer. Ari Daniels says that the festival may hold lessons for improving public safety. During the festival of San Fermin, this little plaza becomes packed with 6,000 people.

Iker Thurigel, a physicist at the University of Navarra and his colleagues have filmed the masses from above for several years. The footage revealed a pattern. Each person repeatedly traced out a rough circle on the ground about the size of a car. Thurigel's now exploring the pressure waves that can ripple through this crowd, the kind that have been fatal elsewhere, but never here. If we understand why this happens, I think we will be able to apply some strategies in other places. Thereby translating the jitters of a sangria-soaked crowd into recommendations that may save people's lives. For NPR news, I'm Marie Daniel.

The IRS will stop sending paper checks for social security benefits on September 30th. I'm Kristen Wright, and this is NPR News from Washington.