The American Community Media (ACOM) recently held a national media briefing with ethnic media, centering one of the most urgent public health topics of the season: confusing and controversial new vaccine recommendations issued by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
The event featured a panel of leading infectious disease experts including Dr. Mauricio Bonacini (Mission Gastroenterology and UCSF), Dr. Peter Chin-Hong (UCSF), Dr. Bonnie Maldonado (Stanford University), and Dr. Benjamin Neuman (Texas A&M University). Each addressed recent ACIP guidance changes that affect vaccines for hepatitis B, measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV), and COVID-19.
ACIP’s latest recommendations mark a stark departure from long-standing U.S. vaccine policy. Most notably, the committee proposed delaying the hepatitis B vaccine until age 12—a shift that contradicts decades of public health practice and WHO guidance, which both stress the importance of the birth-dose vaccine. This shift has raised alarm bells across the public health community, especially among those who work closely with immigrant and underserved populations.
Dr. Bonacini, joining the briefing from Greece, gave a detailed presentation on hepatitis B transmission, particularly its high prevalence in immigrant communities from Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and West Africa. “We know worldwide, the most common mode of transmission is mother-to-child. Delaying the birth dose makes no medical sense,” he said. He cited research from Alaska and Taiwan showing a near-elimination of liver cancer among vaccinated children.
“President Trump is simply wrong,” Bonacini said bluntly, referring to the former president’s recent mischaracterization of hepatitis B as exclusively sexually transmitted. “More infants become chronically infected through vertical transmission than adults do through sex.”
He also noted disparities in public awareness. While hepatitis B rates are significantly higher in certain ethnic groups, few community health programs address these gaps. “We don’t test because we ignore the problem,” Bonacini said. “In the Philippines, for example, the prevalence is nearly 10%, yet we barely hear about it.”
Beyond prevention, Bonacini emphasized equity in access. “I give talks in temples, churches, anywhere I can reach people,” he said, describing grassroots efforts to raise awareness among Indian and Afghan immigrant communities in California. He stressed the need for culturally specific outreach led by trusted messengers from within the communities.
Dr. Maldonado, a pediatrician and former ACIP voting member, addressed the panel’s guidance on the MMRV vaccine. She defended the safety and efficacy of the combination shot, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella. Her remarks were rooted not just in data, but in decades of clinical experience.
“These are not benign illnesses,” Maldonado said. “Rubella during pregnancy can cause congenital rubella syndrome. Measles still kills. Mumps causes deafness. Chickenpox can lead to shingles. I’ve seen every one of these diseases in children.”
She clarified concerns around febrile seizures, noting that while MMRV carries a slightly higher risk of such seizures in infants, the overall risk remains extremely low and without long-term effects. “Febrile seizures are common and self-resolving. They’re scary for parents, but not harmful.”
Maldonado emphasized that MMRV is not only effective but simplifies vaccination. “A single injection covers four diseases,” she said. “It reduces the number of clinic visits, stress for children, and missed opportunities for full immunization.”
Her critique of ACIP’s shift was pointed: “We have more than 20 years of safety and efficacy data. The science hasn’t changed. What’s changed is the politics.”
That politics was central to the briefing. Earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the entire ACIP voting panel, replacing them with political appointees. Maldonado, one of those ousted, described the move as a blow to public trust.
“These changes aren’t based on science,” she said. “They undermine a system that’s protected children for generations.”
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong focused his remarks on the COVID-19 vaccine, where guidance has grown murkier with each passing month. He criticized the ACIP’s new use of the term “informed clinical decision-making” to determine eligibility, particularly for adults over 65.
“It’s a barrier,” he said. “It means people need a doctor’s consult before getting a vaccine. But most people get vaccinated at pharmacies. This isn’t just a policy change; it’s a structural exclusion.”
Chin-Hong identified four groups at highest risk: older adults, pregnant people, children under 2, and the immunocompromised. These populations, he said, are being overlooked in the effort to “simplify” or depoliticize vaccination.
“We’ve lost focus,” he said. “We’re trying to average out protection when we should be targeting it. When that happens, the people who need it most fall through the cracks.”
The implications go beyond access. The fragmentation of guidance—between federal, state, and local levels—has created confusion for the public and chaos for providers. Chin-Hong explained how states like California and New York are creating their own advisory panels in response.
“This decentralization is both a strength and a vulnerability,” he said. “States are stepping up where federal leadership has faltered, but it also means more voices, more variation, and more confusion.”
Journalists from ethnic media outlets raised concerns about the compounded effects on immigrant communities, who already navigate healthcare systems with language, cultural, and documentation barriers. Pamela Anchang of The Immigrant Magazine asked how providers can help communities make sense of it all.
Dr. Bonacini responded with a call for community-grounded education. “We have to meet people where they are,” he said. “Not just in clinics, but in their places of worship, their grocery stores, their WhatsApp groups.”
Neuman, who specializes in virology, also weighed in on misinformation. He warned of new myths spreading online, including claims that MMRV causes autism and that COVID vaccines alter DNA. “We need to get ahead of these narratives,” he said. “Because they’re already spreading faster than the virus.”
Panelists closed by emphasizing that policy confusion should not lead to public hesitation. Dr. Maldonado called for renewed clarity in public messaging: “Vaccines are one of our greatest medical achievements. Let’s not rewrite that legacy with politics.”
Dr. Chin-Hong echoed the urgency: “We’ve already seen measles outbreaks, even polio. This isn’t hypothetical. This is happening.”
The message was clear: science-based policy must prevail. And in the absence of federal clarity, ethnic media remain a trusted bridge.
“We need journalists, especially those embedded in our most affected communities, to carry the truth,” said Bonacini. “Because people are listening. And right now, they need facts more than ever.”
As misinformation proliferates and federal messaging falters, forums like ACOM’s weekly briefings are not just helpful—they are essential.
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