At an American Community Media briefing days before ACIP’s February 25–27 meeting, Dr. Richard Besser warned ethnic journalists that shifting federal vaccine policy could deepen distrust and widen health disparities in immigrant communities.
American Community Media recently brought together ethnic journalists from across the country for a briefing titled “Mapping the Vaccine Landscape.” It promised orientation—a clear view of where vaccine policy stands and where it may be headed. Instead, it revealed a system under strain.
Just days before the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is set to meet, its agenda had not yet been posted to the CDC website. The committee is expected to issue recommendations on seasonal vaccines, including flu, RSV, and Covid-19. Yet the body responsible for guiding national immunization policy now faces mounting scrutiny.
Last June, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy dismissed all existing ACIP members and appointed a new panel. Several of the newly appointed members have publicly questioned vaccine safety. Over the past year, the restructured committee has revisited guidance on the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine; eliminated the routine Hepatitis B vaccine at birth; tightened Covid-19 eligibility; and entertained arguments that the polio vaccine should not be mandatory.
All of this unfolds as vaccine-preventable diseases resurface. Measles—declared eliminated in the United States in 2000—has reappeared in multiple states. Whooping cough cases are rising. And public confidence is thinning. Roughly 1 in 6 parents—16 percent—have skipped or delayed a recommended vaccine, according to a 2025 poll released jointly by KFF and The Washington Post.
Into this moment stepped Dr. Richard Besser, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—the largest health-focused philanthropy in the United States—and former Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
He did not frame the issue as partisan. He framed it as personal.
“There was nothing that I did in 30-plus years of pediatrics,” he said, “that had more proven value than ensuring children were vaccinated fully and on time.”
A System, He Says, Has Shifted
Dr. Besser spent 13 years at the CDC, serving under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He described the former ACIP structure as transparent and grounded in scientific expertise—infectious disease specialists and epidemiologists reviewing data publicly before issuing guidance clinicians could trust.
“What we’re seeing now,” he said, “is absolutely unthinkable.”
Then came the statement that marked the gravity of the moment.
“It is absolutely heartbreaking to me… to have to say I do not recommend looking to the CDC for information around vaccines.”
For many immigrant families, the CDC has long symbolized neutral authority—an institution above politics. To hear a former acting director distance himself signals something deeper than policy disagreement. It signals fracture.
Dr. Besser encouraged parents to consult professional medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and other independent medical societies.
Trust, he suggested, depends on credibility. And credibility depends on consistency.
Measles as a Warning Signal
When reporters asked about rising outbreaks, Dr. Besser was direct.
“If you are not vaccinated, measles will find you.”
Measles is highly contagious. It spreads quickly in under-vaccinated communities and serves as a barometer of coverage gaps. Its reappearance after being declared eliminated in 2000 signals thinning protection.
He also addressed lingering skepticism from the COVID-19 era. No vaccine, he explained, is 100 percent effective. The measles vaccine is about 95 percent effective. The mRNA Covid vaccines dramatically reduced hospitalization and death, even if breakthrough infections occurred.
Public health, he reminded journalists, becomes invisible when it works. It only returns to headlines when systems falter.
Hepatitis B and the Generational Horizon
A reporter from Vietnamese media raised concerns about Hepatitis B, a virus with higher prevalence in parts of Asia and Africa and a known cause of liver cancer.
Dr. Besser described the Hepatitis B vaccine as “miraculous.”
“It’s an anti-cancer vaccine,” he said.
The elimination of the routine birth-dose recommendation concerns him deeply. Earlier delayed-vaccination approaches resulted in thousands of infections annually. Universal newborn vaccination dramatically reduced transmission.
“If we see an increase,” he warned, “we won’t see it tomorrow. We’ll see it decades from now.”
For immigrant families, the timeline is not abstract. Many carry lived memories of diseases that American-born parents may rarely encounter.
Prevention, in that context, is intergenerational.
Immigration Enforcement and the Clinic Door
The conversation turned to undocumented families and whether it is safe to seek vaccines.
Dr. Besser acknowledged that immigration enforcement patterns have created barriers to care. Reports of ICE activity near healthcare facilities have led to declines in clinic attendance in some communities.
“It’s not an unfounded concern,” he said.
Federally qualified health centers typically do not collect or share immigration status information. But fear alone can deter families.
He pointed to the contradiction in framing vaccines as “shared decision-making” when many immigrant families struggle to find providers who speak their language or understand their cultural context.
“It’s hard enough,” he said, “for a documented immigrant.”
For undocumented families, that complexity deepens.
Policy debated in Washington often lands first in waiting rooms.
Preparedness and the Next Pandemic
The briefing expanded beyond ACIP.
“There will be another pandemic,” Dr. Besser said. “We will be less prepared than we were for COVID.”
He cited reductions in public health funding and the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization as factors weakening preparedness.
“Infectious diseases do not respect borders,” he reminded reporters.
Participation in global health systems, he argued, is not symbolic—it is protective.
The Role of Ethnic Media
Throughout the briefing, reporters from Asian, Latino, African, and other diaspora outlets asked pointed questions about transparency, state guidance, political interference, and rebuilding trust.
Dr. Besser returned repeatedly to the importance of trusted messengers.
“Journalism has never been more important than it is today,” he said.
For immigrant communities, ethnic media often serves as a translator—not just of language, but of institutions.
As ACIP prepares to meet February 25–27, uncertainty remains about what recommendations will emerge and whether they will stabilize or further disrupt public confidence.
The ACOM briefing made one thing clear: the landscape is shifting.
For immigrant families weighing whether to book appointments, whether guidance feels steady, whether institutions remain credible—that shift is not theoretical.
When vaccine policy moves, trust moves with it.
And once trust fractures, rebuilding it requires more than a meeting agenda.
ImmigrantHealth #VaccinePolicy #PublicHealth #ACIP #EthnicMedia #HealthEquity #DiasporaVoices #CommunityJournalism
