内容摘要：Dustin Holmes, second from right, holds hands with his girlfriend, Hailey Morgan, while returning to their flooded home with her children Aria Skye Hall, 7, right, and Kyle Ross, 4, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Sept. 27, 2024, in Crystal River, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

Dustin Holmes, second from right, holds hands with his girlfriend, Hailey Morgan, while returning to their flooded home with her children Aria Skye Hall, 7, right, and Kyle Ross, 4, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Sept. 27, 2024, in Crystal River, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

since at least the 1990s, rising whooping cough cases and the risk that bird flu could spread widely among people.The moves reflect a shift that Americans may not fully realize, away from the very idea of public health: doing the work that no individual can do alone to safeguard the population as a whole. That’s one of the most critical responsibilities of government, notes James Williams, county executive in Santa Clara County, California. And it goes beyond having police and fire departments.

“It means not having babies suffering from diseases that you vanquished. It means making sure that people have access to the most accurate and up-to-date information and decisions that help their longevity,” Williams said. “It means having a society and communities able to actually prosper, with people living healthy and full lives.”Just outside a Charlotte, North Carolina, high school in March, nurse Kim Cristino set out five vaccines as a 17-year-old girl in ripped jeans stepped onto a health department van. The patient barely flinched as Cristino gave her three shots in one arm and two in the other to prevent diseases including measles, diphtheria and polio.Like many other teens that morning, the girl was getting some shots years later than recommended. The clinic’s appearance at Independence High School gave her a convenient way to get up to date.

A student receives a vaccination inside a mobile health unit visiting Independence High School in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)A student receives a vaccination inside a mobile health unit visiting Independence High School in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)

“It lessens the barriers for parents who would have to be taking off from work and trying to get their kids to a provider,” Cristino said.

The vaccinations also help the community around her. The teen won’t come down with a life-threatening disease and the whole community is protected from outbreaks — if enough people are vaccinated.At the same time, he has sought to avoid angering U.S. President Donald Trump by praising his diplomacy and declaring Moscow’s openness to peace talks — even as he set maximalist conditions that are rejected by Kyiv and the West.

Trump, who once promised to end theof isolating Russia by holding calls with Putin and denigrating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At the same time, however, Trump warned Putin against “tapping me along” and threatened Moscow with sanctions if it fails to back his peace proposals.

In recent days, Trump signaled he was losing patience with Putin, declaring the Russian leader had gone “crazy” by stepping up aerial attacks on Ukraine. He also said: “What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who serves as deputy head of Putin’s Security Council, fired back: “I only know of one REALLY BAD thing — WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!”