内容摘要：About 300 pigs of different ages live on this farm, nestled in rolling hills, its exact location undisclosed for security reasons. Tags on their ears identify their genetics.

About 300 pigs of different ages live on this farm, nestled in rolling hills, its exact location undisclosed for security reasons. Tags on their ears identify their genetics.

shots, but has not yet been approved for a flu shot. Moderna believes mRNA could speed up production of flu shots compared with traditional processes that use chicken eggs or giant vats of cells. A combo shot also might improve vaccination rates, the researchers wrote in the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.Dr. Greg Poland, who studies vaccine response at Mayo Clinic and was not involved in the new study, said he’s not convinced that a combo shot would be popular. And while flu comes in seasonal waves, COVID-19 has been spreading throughout the year, Poland said, posing challenges for how to time the shots to keep protection strong.

He’d also like to see data on how well the new shot protected people from infection and hospitalization.The findings are based on measuring antibodies in participants’ blood after 29 days, an indication of short-term disease protection.Last week, Moderna pushed its target date for the vaccine’s approval to 2026 after the Food and Drug Administration requested a more direct measure: how much the shot lowered the risk of disease.

“I agree in this case with FDA that efficacy data are important to see,” Poland said.Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has cast doubt on the safety of mRNA vaccines, but Moderna President Stephen Hoge told investors in an earnings call last week that talks with the FDA were productive and “business as usual.”

the FDA was asking the company to run a new clinical trial of its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine after the agency grants full approval, sowing uncertainty about other vaccine updates.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Andreas Tompros looks out at his avocado farm, Ridgecrest Avocados, in Somis, Calif., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Escobedo said about 60% of U.S. households currently buy avocados, and about half of these are responsible for the overwhelming majority of consumption, which means there’s still room for the market to grow — especially in the Northeast, where the fruit is less common.“There is a lot of opportunity for certain groups of people to increase their purchasing of avocados,” Escobedo said.

While the Trump administration has threatened tariffs on a spate ofhave so far been spared. California growers said they want Mexican avocados to keep flowing into the country, though they also want robust