News Briefings

Mapping the Vaccine Landscape With Dr. Richard Besser

By ACoM

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Was Live Friday, February 20, 2026 | 11am PST

Guest Speaker

Dr. Richard Besser, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Event Overview

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet next week February 25-27. The Committee has not yet posted the agenda for the upcoming meeting to the CDC website, but is expected to make several recommendations on seasonal vaccines, including flu, RSV, and Covid-19. ACIP members have already expressed concerns about Covid-19 vaccine — particularly the single dose mRNA vaccine — claiming it is dangerous and should be taken off the market.

In June last year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy fired all existing members of ACIP; many of the new members are vaccine skeptics. Over the past year, the ACIP panel has issued several controversial recommendations, particularly on the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella — MMRV — vaccine; eliminating the Hep-B vaccine at birth; and tightening eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine. ACIP Chair Kirk Milhoan stated in January that the polio vaccine should not be mandatory.

The committee’s recommendations come amid a rise in vaccine preventable illnesses, including measles, which was declared eliminated at the start of this century. Vaccine skepticism has also dramatically risen in the US: roughly 1 in 6 parents — 16% — have skipped or delayed a recommended vaccine, according to a 2025 poll released jointly by KFF and The Washington Post.

Dr. Besser will discuss ACIP’s previous recommendations, what to expect from the February meeting, as well as other recommendations expected in the coming year. Dr. Besser, a pediatrician, will also provide an overall perspective on vaccines, and what decreased vaccine uptake might mean for American families at large, especially in vulnerable communities. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the largest health-focused philanthropy in the US.

Presented by ACoM

Cover Image Credit: Canva Photos