By Sydney Page

Special to The Washington Post

It started as a series of jokes.

Matt Nelson began posting one-liners on X, formerly Twitter, in 2015 to test his comedic chops.

“I noticed that all of my jokes that had to do with dogs just did way better than my other jokes,” said Nelson, then a college freshman at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

That sparked an idea.

“If the entire internet loves dogs, and so do I, and I have a knack for writing humorously about them, then I should start a new account,” said Nelson, who grew up in Charleston, West Virginia.

He decided to post a poll on his personal X account, asking his small following if he should create a dog-rating account. At the time, X had a 140-character limit on posts, so Nelson thought numerical ratings were a way to keep things concise.

The poll results were unanimous, and WeRateDogs was born. He added the tagline: “Your only source for professional dog ratings.”

The first post, on Nov. 15, 2015, was of a friend’s dog.

“Here we have a Japanese Irish Setter. Lost eye in Vietnam (?). Big fan of relaxing on stair. 8/10 would pet,” Nelson wrote in an X post, along with a photo of the dog.

“After that first post, we had 100 messages from people wanting their own dog rated,” Nelson said. “It was a nonstop torrent of potential content.”

Within one week of the first post, WeRateDogs had 100,000 followers on X.

Nelson quickly realized that his comedic experiment had a lot of potential. But he had no idea that nearly a decade later, WeRateDogs would continue to have a huge, fiercely loyal following on social media, including 9 million followers on X, 4.4 million on Instagram, 2.8 million on TikTok and 1.2 million on Facebook. His videos regularly get millions of views, with some of them clocking in at tens of millions, and thousands of enthusiastic comments.

It’s also a profitable business with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm.

When he first started, Nelson decided to go all-in to figure out if he could make it big. He made the tough choice to drop out of college — where he was studying professional golf management — in 2017 to dedicate all his time to WeRateDogs.

“Once I realized that I had this passion for it and I was having so much fun, nothing I was doing in school was assisting me with that,” said Nelson, who now lives in Los Angeles.

Although his account is lighthearted and funny, Nelson said, running a dog-rating business is no joke.

Initially, he managed everything himself for several months, sifting through thousands of daily dog submissions he was getting through direct messages from fans. He’d select which ones to post and think up a witty caption and rating for each pup.

“In the beginning, it was staggering,” Nelson said. “It was probably close to 5,000 to 6,000 submissions a day.”

Choosing the dogs to feature, he said, felt like an impossible task. So many of them beckoned to be rated. Nelson prioritized the funniest or highest-quality photos.

“Every dog is the best and every dog is the cutest,” Nelson said.

His profile photo hasn’t changed since he started the account. It’s of a dog named Pippin with striking blue eyes and an intense expression, which he picked because he wanted the account to have a playfully absurd feel.

“It felt very formal, and that was contrasted with the ridiculous posts I was making,” Nelson said.

Nelson initially found the photo of Pippin online, but as the account grew, Pippin’s owners eventually got in touch with him and they became friendly.

At first, all dogs were rated fairly high (aside from noncanine animals, which were given low ratings), but they were never rated above 9/10. Then one day, Nelson decided to give one dog a 10/10 rating, and people went wild.

Another day, he gave a dog 11/10.

“That was a eureka moment,” Nelson said.

He adjusted his rating scale so the lowest was 10/10 and the highest was 15/10. Recently, the lowest score has been 12/10. Nelson said his rating process is arbitrary, unless the pup is a true “hero dog” worthy of the coveted 15/10 rating. His generous ratings have become a key part of the WeRateDogs identity.

“When we hit a million followers, I was like, ‘People are paying attention to this in a way that I never would have imagined,’” Nelson said. “I didn’t go into it thinking anything could be accomplished besides a few laughs.”

As the account exploded in popularity, it became too much for Nelson to manage on his own. He brought on someone to help him sort through submissions, though he remained the sole writer for the first five years. He became known for his deadpan wisecracks.

In a 2016 X post, WeRateDogs featured a dog named Duke, sitting in a fridge.

“This is Duke. He sneaks into the fridge sometimes. It’s his safe place. 11/10 would give little jacket if necessary,” Nelson wrote.

Nelson said he focuses on dogs because he doesn’t have a strong opinion about cats, and because he has never had a cat.

“I just know that I wouldn’t be able to make a WeRateCats,” he said. “I wouldn’t do it justice.”

As the account started to get even more popular, dog owners began sharing more information about their pups along with their submissions, including poignant backstories. Although most of the posts remained silly, a few became more serious.

“This is Jacob. In June of 2016, he comforted those affected by the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Four months ago he flew to Vegas to help families of 59 people grieve. Today, he is in Parkland, Florida hugging students who lost classmates yesterday. He is our third 15/10,” WeRateDogs posted in 2018.

In addition to funny dog photos, followers were often sending WeRateDogs fundraising pages for pups in need, usually to cover unexpected medical bills. In 2017, Nelson started featuring a fundraiser every Friday, which quickly grew to three every Friday to keep up with demand.

The posts, which feature GoFundMe accounts, raised close to $3 million in four years, Nelson said.

“We just knew there was something more there,” he said. “All of this sent us in the direction of a foundation.”

In 2021, Nelson and his team launched a nonprofit group called the 15/10 Foundation with a mission to sponsor dogs with medical needs and improve their chances of adoption.

“We have 45 rescue partners across the U.S., and we’ve sponsored almost 900 dogs. Their average medical cost is just under $5,000,” Nelson said. “Once it felt like people were invested in the account and it meant a lot to them, we could turn it into a real force for good.”

Nelson’s own dog, Doug, whom he called WeRateDogs’ chief executive, died in 2023. Nelson and his girlfriend regularly foster dogs, and said they hope to adopt another one soon.

“It’s like an interview process for our next CEO,” Nelson said.

WeRateDogs now has a team of about 50 people who help run the nonprofit group and the business, which makes money mostly through brand partnerships and by selling merchandise and calendars. Nelson said 15% of net proceeds from merchandise sales go to the foundation. Popular items include stickers and T-shirts that say “tell your dog i said hi.”

“It’s really wonderful to be at the helm of this community,” Nelson said. “It’s just such a kind, empathetic, optimistic community, and I really take a lot of pride in protecting and nurturing that.”

Beyond its signature humorous dog ratings, WeRateDogs publishes a “Top 5 Dogs of the Week,” video, and it recently launched a weekly podcast called “The Dogs Were Good (again).”

Since the dogs continue to be good, and the public seems to have an insatiable desire to know the dogs’ official ratings, Nelson does not have plans to slow down.

“There are just so many dogs to talk about, and I could talk about them forever,” Nelson said.

While WeRateDogs has grown into something Nelson never thought possible, he said his primary goal has never changed — to bring people joy.

“It’s all rooted in that,” Nelson said.

By Lena H. Sun, Rachel Roubein, Dan Diamond
The Washington Post

Trump health officials plan to link coronavirus vaccines to the deaths of 25 children as they consider limiting which Americans should get the shots, according to four people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe confidential information.

The findings appear to be based on information submitted to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which contains unverified reports of side effects or bad experiences with vaccines submitted by anyone, including patients, doctors, pharmacists or even someone who sees a report on social media. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes that the database is not designed to assess whether a shot caused a death, a conclusion that requires thorough investigations by scientists and public health professionals.

Trump health officials plan to include the pediatric deaths claim in a presentation next week to an influential panel of advisers to the CDC that is considering new coronavirus vaccine recommendations, which affect access to the shots and whether they’re free.

The plan has alarmed some career scientists who say coronavirus vaccines have been extensively studied, including in children, and that dangers of the virus itself are being underplayed. CDC staff in June presented data to the same vaccine committee showing that at least 25 children died who had covid-associated hospitalizations since July 2023 and that number was likely an undercount. Of the 16 old enough for vaccination, none was up-to-date on vaccines.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary confirmed on CNN last week that officials were investigating reports of possible child deaths from the vaccine, including reviewing autopsy reports and interviewing families. Such a review could take months, according to health officials, and it is unclear when those investigations began.

The pediatric deaths presentation to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is not final, according to one person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe ongoing policy discussions. The full methodology for the analysis was not immediately clear.

“FDA and CDC staff routinely analyze VAERS and other safety monitoring data, and those reviews are being shared publicly through the established ACIP process,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an email. “Any recommendations on updated COVID-19 vaccines will be based on gold standard science and deliberated transparently at ACIP next week.”

The FDA in August approved the latest coronavirus vaccines for people ages 65 and older or who have risk factors for severe disease, but the CDC vaccine panel can recommend the shots more narrowly or broadly. The committee is weighing a plan to recommend the shot for those 75 and older but instruct people who are younger to speak to a physician before they get the vaccine, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share policy discussions. Another option would not recommend the vaccine to people under the age of 75 without preexisting conditions, the people said.

But limiting access for people ages 65 to 74 has raised concerns about a political backlash, said one federal health official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations. According to CDC estimates, nearly 43 percent of people in that age group received the 2024-2025 version of the coronavirus vaccine.

Many countries do not recommend annual coronavirus vaccination for healthy children because they rarely die from covid and most experience mild symptoms. U.S. officials have justified yearly shots based on data showing infants and toddlers faced elevated risk of hospitalization and that significant shares of those who were hospitalized had no underlying conditions. They have also said vaccines offer children protection against long covid.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of coronavirus vaccines, in May directed health officials to stop recommending the shots for otherwise healthy children. The CDC later instructed parents to consult a doctor before getting their children coronavirus vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends annual coronavirus vaccines for all children ages 6 to 23 months and for older children if their parents want them to have protection.

Next week’s vaccine advisory panel’s meeting is critical because the recommendations determine whether insurers must pay for the immunizations, pharmacies can administer them and doctors are willing to offer them. Kennedy purged the membership of the panel earlier this year and appointed his own picks, most of whom have criticized coronavirus vaccination policy. He is considering adding additional critics of covid shots to the committee.

The previous vaccine panel was already considering a more targeted approach to coronavirus vaccination, recommending the shot for high-risk groups, but allowing others, including children, to get the vaccine if they wanted.

Tracy Beth Hoeg, one of Makary’s top deputies who was a critic of broad childhood coronavirus vaccination before joining the FDA, has been one of the officials looking into vaccine safety data, according to five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private information.

The planned pediatric death presentation included attempts to interview some families, but it’s not clear what other information was used. Some of those same families had been previously interviewed by the CDC officials as part of vaccine safety tracking, according to one person familiar with the matter.

Harleen Marwah, a pediatrician at Mass General Brigham for Children who recently reviewed data on the coronavirus vaccine and its safety and efficacy in children, said new studies since June identified “no new safety concerns.” Marwah conducted the research on behalf of the Vaccine Integrity Project, a new initiative based at the University of Minnesota to provide scientific evidence to inform vaccine recommendations.

The CDC has been monitoring coronavirus vaccine safety data since the first shots rolled out in the United States. Much stricter requirements were put in place for reporting adverse events than for other vaccines because the vaccines were initially fast-tracked under the FDA’s emergency response authority.

Death rates among all ages after mRNA coronavirus vaccination were below those for the general population, according to data presented to the CDC vaccine committee in June.

Noel Brewer, a public health professor at the University of North Carolina and one of the vaccine advisers terminated by Kennedy, said the focus on vaccine harms ignores the harms of coronavirus.

“They are leveraging this platform to share untruths about vaccines to scare people,” Brewer said. “The U.S. government is now in the business of vaccine misinformation.”