For journalists who cover public health in 2026, there are a few more intriguing topics to explore than access to vaccines and related policy issues.

The U.S. vaccine policy environment has become chaotic over the past 18 months due to significant federal actions, including the replacement of the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Policy (ACIP) panel and revisions to the Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule. Shifts in federal guidance and the resulting patchwork of state responses make vaccine policy increasingly difficult to follow — and to explain.

To help journalists navigate that terrain, On June 10, NPF hosted the “Vaccines and Government: From DC to the States to Your Provider’s Office” webinar, sponsored by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

Four expert speakers provided context and advice intended to stimulate insightful reporting that can help clinicians and families navigate conflicting signals about which vaccines are recommended, which are required and if they’re covered by insurance.

Phyllis Arthur, executive vice president and chief of global health with BIO, began the webinar with a detailed outline of significant events that occurred since the beginning of the Trump administration.

“You’ll see in January of 2026, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised the entire vaccine schedule,” Arthur said. “They did not remove any vaccines from recommendation, but they changed the type of recommendation for a long set of vaccines that had routinely been recommended for many years. They did this without a vote from the ACIP but through a decision memo. And then there was a very important decision in the courts in a case AAP versus Kennedy, where the judge halted this ACIP set of changes as well as the names the people who were appointed to the committee and said that the ACIP could not meet until they had resolved these issues.”

For parents, these policy debates have yielded little more than confusion and anxiety, said pediatrician David Higgins, an assistant professor of pediatrics and public health at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

“I mean, put yourself in the shoes of a parent and go back to that slide that Phyllis just shared. We even have a hard time following everything that’s happened in public health. You can’t expect a parent to keep up with this. And so I’ve always, as a pediatrician, had parents that have come in with specific concerns about vaccines. That’s not new. They heard something that this vaccine might cause some safety problem or whatever it is. What I’m hearing more now than ever before are parents that are just confused. And I have families who have vaccinated their first, second, third child, and now they’re coming to me with their fourth child and they’re saying, “I’m not sure I want to vaccinate them.”

In response to shifting federal directives, like the May 29 Trump Administration executive order directing the CDC and ACIP to review HHS recommendations about vaccines and take steps to update the U.S. childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule. Many state and local policymakers and advocates have developed their own infrastructure and collaboratives to provide access and education about vaccine safety and efficacy.

But Karen Sharpnack, executive director of the Idaho Immunization Coalition, said strategic response requires a nuanced strategy that takes state and regional differences in opinions about federal directives into consideration. Public health advocacy has become more challenging due to a combination of widespread misinformation, funding cuts, and an unpredictable environment that hinders strategic planning.

“We work with leaders, we work with the government in a different way,” said Sharpnack, who is also vice president on the board of directors of the National Conference for Immunization Coalitions and Partnerships. “And what we’re hearing is speaking for red states, they truly believe they’re leaders at the national level.  So if their leaders are saying something, there must be something there. So that’s part of that misinformation that we need to communicate. The other thing that I’m seeing in the advocacy world is a lack of funding. As everybody knows, a lot of funding has been cut across the board at every level, not just in vaccines, but preventative health, education, environment. And with that said, it’s very hard to do our jobs if we’re not in the forefront actually going on the ground and working with families.”

All of this means journalists like Jessica Nix of Bloomberg News must closely monitor policy shifts like the reconfiguration of ACIP and other decisions fueled by HHS. She’s been covering how the Trump administration has influenced the immunization landscape, and joined the webinar shortly after the latest executive order, and helped journalists analyze the current status.

“Again, they didn’t stop recommending certain vaccines. They just changed the characterization of some vaccines to say it was shared clinical decision making, which basically translates to whether or not insurance might cover it. From there, we’ve seen (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) administrator Mehmet Oz say that insurance is still going to cover these shots. Insurance companies have said that they’re still going to cover these shots. All of these moves were then challenged in court. They’re still being challenged in court. HHS has appealed this decision, but the future of ACIP remains uncertain.”

But while it’s necessary to demystify policy developments, the panelists urged journalists to find and tell the stories of individuals and families attempting to find trusted information about vaccines.

“Get to know some pediatricians, some family practice doctors, some OBGYNs,” Arthur said. “They are all doing what David’s doing every day, talking to, empathizing with patients, helping them think this through for themselves and their families. Those relationships, coupled with relationships with the immunization leaders in the state or at the federal level, can really help people write very thoughtful, scientific, but also empathetic stories.”

Access the full transcript here.

This webinar was sponsored by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. The National Press Foundation is solely responsible for this content.