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Peers and Perspectives

1rem

, where we delve into some of the social factors that create and widen healthcare disparities.

Social determinants, a legacy of distrust, and inequities have all been challenges for people of color in the delivery of health care. And these factors have translated to the administration of 

The university hosts the biggest vaccination site in its county, San Bernadino. However, there is low representation of Black vaccinees. Abdul-Mutakabbir and faculty at Loma Linda worked with leaders from local Black churches to get the word out and communicate about the availability and benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“From February 1 until April 30, 2021, 24,808 individuals were vaccinated in the LLU mass clinic with a first dose (Pfizer or Moderna) or single dose (Janssen) of a COVID-19 vaccine, however, only 908 (3.7%) were Black vaccinees. Contrastingly, the LLU remote site clinics vaccinated 1542 individuals with a first or single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of those vaccinees, 675 (44%) were Black,” Abdul-Mutakabbir and coauthors wrote in their poster.

Along with protection against COVID-19, Abdul-Mutakabbir makes the point that preventative measures such as vaccines can help avoid hospital stays and subsequent health care associated infections and antimicrobial resistance. She believes vaccination goes hand-in-hand with antimicrobial stewardship.

Hear what vaccine equity means to Abdul-Mutakabbir, and the vaccine drive in which she was involved.

Missed Episode 1 of Contagion Community? 

Listen in on the conversation and feel free to offer your feedback on this episode, interest in participating in the podcast, or suggest ideas for future episodes. Please email your correspondence to Nina Cosdon: ncosdon@mjhlifesciences.com

In this latest episode of Contagion Community, we interview Dr. Jacinda Abdul-Mutakabbir about vaccine equality vs vaccine equity as well as her experience on a COVID-19 vaccine drive to increase vaccinations in communities of color.

Vaccine Equality vs Equity with Dr. Jacinda Abdul-Mutakabbir

’s new podcast, Contagion Community, where we delve into some of the social factors that create and widen healthcare disparities.

In surveying our audience, 75% of respondents viewed health equity as a major issue within medicine. Infectious disease often disproportionately occurs along the lines of ethnicity, race, class, gender, education, sexual orientation, geographic location, and more. The entwined nature of healthcare inequity and social factors inhibit us from examining infectious disease objectively, which is why Contagion Community spotlights underserved populations.

Through interviews with experts, we will offer insights into the issues associated with healthcare inequities and examine the strategies being deployed to overcome them.

Contagion Community is a marriage of major conversations occurring in hospitals, labs, academics, and communities.

Vaccines have the power to save lives. However, what happens when they're not distributed equitably?

Today, Associate Editor Nina Cosdon speaks with Leonard Friedland, MD, vice president of Scientific Affairs and Public Health Vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline, about vaccine disparities in the US and around the world.

Enjoy the program and stay tuned for our next episode!

In this first episode of Contagion Community, we interview vaccine research scientist Dr. Leonard Friedland about vaccination disparities in the US and around the world.

Vaccine Inequity With Dr. Leonard Friedland

This interview and episode was recorded and produced prior to the November 16 announcement that 

Moderna's vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 was associated with 94.5% efficacy

 in preventing COVID-19 in preliminary phase 3 COVE trial data. Though the candidate and the mRNA platform is discussed throughout the podcast, more updated coverage of mRNA-1273 will be made available on ContagionLive.com throughout the coming weeks.

In matter of 2 weeks, a series of significant clinical, public health, and otherwise factors greatly influenced the current state of 

From promising preliminary phase 3 data from Pfizer and BioNTech, to record surges in new cases and hospitalizations across the US, and to a Presidential election laden with public health policy implications, the makeup of COVID-19 pandemic response is entirely different from what it was weeks ago.

It is only bound to change even more greatly in just a couple more weeks. Before the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is able to weigh on the potentially first COVID-19 vaccine to submit an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and kick off an unprecedented distribution and real-world monitoring process, it’s crucial to assess where things stand now, and what’s coming up.

This week’s Vaccine Race podcast features an interview with William Schaffner, MD, professor of Preventive Medicine and Medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Schaffner discusses his own impression of the new Pfizer preliminary data for candidate BNT162, whether the current US rate of 150,000-plus new daily cases could pressure the FDA to further expedite a vaccine, what vaccine distribution, storage, and immunization will entail, and what a new administration would (or would not) mean for COVID-19 response and vaccine development.

The Vanderbilt Professor of Preventive Medicine shares thoughts on the first potential COVID-19 vaccine, at a time of record new daily cases.

Vaccine Race: The Pfizer Vaccine with William Schaffner, MD

, as the global-scale infectious disease meeting has been forced to resort its comprehensive clinical agenda to a virtual format due to 

As an acknowledgement to the great burden of COVID-19—and in spirit with the meeting’s great collaborative efforts—the first 24 hours of the annual meeting are dedicated to discussions around the pandemic, titled “Chasing the Sun.”

 will provide around-the-clock IDWeek 2020 coverage over the next days, we kick off our content in a similar fashion: the second episode of our limited series podcast Vaccine Race.

In this episode, senior editor John Parkinson sits down with Mei Mei Hu, co-chief executive officer of vaccine development company Covaxx, and honorary member of Time Magazine’s Next 100 List of 2019.

Covaxx’s investigational COVID-19 vaccine, UB-612, is the first multitope peptide-based vaccine capable of activating both B-cells and T-cells.

about her company and its creation of this interesting candidate, and provided some firsthand insights into getting a vaccine through the development process.

Stay tuned for more IDWeek 2020 content, and a new Vaccine Race episode, throughout the week.

ID Week

A vaccine developer joins for a firsthand discussion on the development, research, and distribution process.

Vaccine Race: Mei Mei Hu on Developing, Researching a COVID-19 Vaccine

Georges C.Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, details practical implications for clinical teams.

ACIP September Votes with APHA Perspective: COVID-19, MMR, and Hepatitis B

Insights from Jaya Aysola, MD, MPH, DTMH; and John C. Lin, MD candidate, on clinical workflows, social needs screening, and policy levers.

Food Insecurity Tied to Higher Long COVID Risk in US Adults 

Oxford’s Prof Katrina Lythgoe and Mahan Ghafari, DPhil, report ONS-CIS data on 576 persistent UK infections with rapid within-host evolution and rare transmission after one month.

Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Infections in the Community Show Fast Within-Host Change but Little Late Transmission

William Hanage, PhD, discusses viral evolution, transmission risk, and clinical implications for immunocompromised patients.

 Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Infection Lasting Over 750 Days Documented in Person With HIV

Single-center randomized trial shows lower infection rates and extended time to SARS-CoV-2 infection, though larger studies are needed to confirm findings.

Azelastine Nasal Spray Reduces SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Phase 2 Trial

An expert discusses how COVID-19 has disrupted traditional respiratory virus patterns with summer surges now preceding the typical winter flu season, while declining vaccine uptake among younger populations threatens to leave vulnerable groups increasingly exposed to seasonal illness complications.

Contributing Factors to Respiratory Illness

As the US moves into fall, concerns about seasonal respiratory viruses and COVID-19 are resurfacing. Traditionally, respiratory virus season intensifies during the winter, but COVID-19 has disrupted these predictable patterns. Recent years have shown recurring COVID-19 surges, often peaking in August and again in January. This year followed a similar trend, with a late-summer peak in August that is now declining. Experts suggest increased summer travel and school breaks may contribute to these seasonal “blips.” Current COVID-19 indicators—including emergency department visits, test positivity rates, and deaths—are trending downward. Meanwhile, influenza has not yet emerged significantly, though early signals have appeared in parts of the Midwest and Southeast. Historically, influenza activity accelerates around the holiday season, especially after Thanksgiving, when travel and gatherings increase.

The conversation also highlighted concerns about vaccine uptake. Although vaccination remains strongly recommended for older adults and vulnerable populations, enthusiasm appears to be waning among younger, healthier groups. This trend could indirectly endanger individuals at high risk, because community-level immunity plays a key role in protecting them. Findings from studies have shown, for example, that vaccinating nursing home staff often provides more protection to residents than vaccinating residents themselves.

Looking ahead, experts warn that reduced vaccine coverage—particularly for COVID-19 and influenza—may increase pneumonia incidence and other complications among vulnerable populations. Although it is difficult to predict the exact trajectory of this respiratory season, the combination of evolving COVID-19 strains, shifting vaccine policies, and anticipated winter gatherings could heighten risks in the months ahead.

An expert discusses how COVID-19 has disrupted traditional respiratory virus patterns, with summer surges now preceding the typical winter influenza season, while declining vaccine uptake among younger populations threatens to leave vulnerable groups increasingly exposed to seasonal illness complications.

This is part 2 of our conversation with Kevin A Ault, MD, vice president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine. Ault previously served on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), where he helped shape multiple recommendations concerning COVID-19 vaccines in adults, adolescents, and children. He was also an author of the 2023 adult, adolescent, and pediatric US immunization schedules and an author on the recent adult hepatitis B vaccination recommendations, which include guidance for maternal immunization and adult hepatitis B vaccination.

In this discussion, Ault turns from committee debate to implementation. He outlines why access and coverage may look different across pharmacies, payers, and states, and he describes the kinds of data that would best support future ACIP deliberations. He also returns to practical counseling in pregnancy, where maternal protection and newborn protection remain central.

On near-term access and coverage, Ault sees uneven terrain. “Part of these recommendations is there’s going to be fragmentation of the systems that are in place,” he said. “There’s going to be different pharmacy chains that interpret these differently, certainly in the short term. Probably in the long term it’ll settle out. There are going to be different states and jurisdictions that interpret things differently.” He pointed to Michigan as an example of state-level action: “Here in the state of Michigan, our chief medical executive issued a recommendation, and everybody that hasn’t had a prior dose of the current vaccine get it because that puts you at higher risk of disease. And that was based on the data that you saw at the ACIP meeting.”

The payer landscape adds another layer. “Problem with large states like Michigan is there might be 20 or 30 different payers besides the federal payers,” he noted. “There are probably different deviations on the different Medicaid payers. But there’s also multiple payers on the commercial side. So to figure out the policies of multiple different pharmacy chains and multiple payers really makes things very, very fragmented.” He acknowledged recent statements from private insurers about COVID-19 vaccine coverage, then added an important boundary. “You heard the insurance companies get together and say that they’re going to cover COVID vaccines. But the federal programs that you mentioned, VFC, Medicaid and Medicare, don’t really fall under that jurisdiction. So it’s fragmented is really the best word for what’s going to happen.”

Asked what evidence would most help future ACIP decisions on COVID-19, hepatitis B, and MMRV, Ault said the September meeting revisited a lot of known ground, particularly for MMRV. “There was a lot of good data that was presented at the ACIP meeting by the CDC staff. They were impressive as always, and thorough as always, despite the short timeframe they were working in. So I’m not sure we’re going to see any new data. The MMRV discussion was basically a rehash of a 2009 ACIP meeting that I was representing ACOG.” He added that MMRV is less central to his own specialty, but after reviewing coverage from that period he felt “all those points were covered then.”

For hepatitis B, he underscored durability and current effectiveness. “We already know that it works 99% of the time for childhood cases, adolescent cases, young adult cases. And so I’m not sure we’re going to do any better than that.” What he would like to see, however, are forward-looking models that translate uptake into disease burden over time. “There was an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association a few months ago… that modeled what changes in vaccination uptake would do to disease prevalence. And you could certainly do that for hepatitis B,” he said. “Honestly, you may not see that much of a short-term change because there’s such great protection for a few decades after vaccination. It might be 10 or 20 years before you see a shift in the epidemiology of hepatitis B. Unfortunately, that shift would be young people getting liver failure and liver cancer and liver transplants, which we certainly don’t want to return to.”

Ault also emphasized adhering to ACIP’s evidence-to-recommendation framework and fully considering values and preferences. “One of the problems with the presentations was there’s a framework called evidence to recommendations, and one of the members said we’re going to change the recommendations because people don’t trust vaccines anymore. That would fall in the framework under values, and there might be data about that,” he said. “Recommendations are not made in a vacuum. There are seven or eight things that should and could be considered, and I think that got glossed over quite a bit.” He noted public comments from liaison members representing the American College of Physicians and the American Medical Association who urged a return to the usual process. “We should pay attention to the liaisons when they say that,” he added.

The conversation closed on counseling during pregnancy. Ault framed the message in terms that resonate most with patients. “COVID was one of the leading causes of maternal death in 2022, and deaths, maternal ICU admissions and hospital visits were largely confined to the unvaccinated population,” he said. “If a patient wanted to know my personal experience of COVID during pregnancy, it was nasty. It’s no fun to go to the medical intensive care unit and round on an intubated pregnant patient. I’ve had that experience both with influenza and with COVID, and I would like to not have that experience anymore. The best way to get to that point would be to vaccinate pregnant women.”

He added that protection of the newborn is a powerful motivator across multiple pathogens. “If you tell somebody who’s pregnant, protecting your newborn is one of the things that they value the highest about RSV and pertussis and COVID and flu,” he said. “RSV is common enough that most people know what it is. When we were doing studies of RSV vaccines during pregnancy, women who had prior pregnancies were like, yes, I want to avoid RSV. I want to be in your research trial.” For hepatitis B, he noted that success can create amnesia. “Hepatitis B vaccine has been so wildly successful that you have to go back to the last century to get stories about hepatitis B,” he said, recounting a medical student who had never heard of the disease. “That is probably a good thing,” he added, “and a reminder to keep doing the basics that work.”

: ACIP kept vaccination for people 6 months and older under shared clinical decision making, emphasizing individualized counseling on age, prior infection, immunosuppression, and comorbidities. Prescriptions are not required.

: To reduce febrile seizure risk, ACIP recommended separate MMR and varicella doses before age 4, rather than the combined MMRV product.

: The committee tabled a proposal to delay the newborn birth dose to 30 days, leaving the current schedule unchanged, while reaffirming universal HBV testing in pregnancy.

ACIP members also urged CDC to provide clearer, plain-language informed-consent materials and called for more transparent posting of vote language with consistent use of the evidence-to-recommendation framework.

Clinically, the playbook remains stable: continue COVID-19 vaccination via shared decision making for higher-risk patients, maintain HBV birth-dose practices and universal prenatal testing, and use separate MMR and varicella doses before age 4. Coverage through VFC, Medicare/Medicaid, and commercial plans is expected to continue without new prescription requirements.

Part 2 on coverage across payers, evidence needs for COVID-19, hepatitis B, and MMRV, and clinician messaging for maternal and newborn protection.

Kevin Ault, MD, on ACIP Implementation: Access, Coverage, and Pregnancy Counseling

In Part 1, Kevin A. Ault, MD, Vice President of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, discusses ACIP’s recent meeting, including COVID-19 shared decision-making, informed-consent debates, and new policy actions on hepatitis B and MMRV.

“Part 1 of Our Conversation with Kevin A. Ault, MD: ACIP Shared Decision-Making, Informed Consent, and Vaccine Policy

This is part 1 of our conversation with Kevin A. Ault, MD, vice president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine. Ault previously served on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), where he helped shape multiple recommendations concerning COVID-19 vaccines in adults, adolescents, and children. He was also an author of the 2023 adult, adolescent, and pediatric US immunization schedules, which include recommendations for maternal immunization and adult hepatitis B vaccination.

In this discussion, Ault reflects on ACIP’s recent meeting, including the shift to shared clinical decision-making for COVID-19 vaccination, the debate over informed consent, and how clinicians in obstetrics, pediatrics, and family medicine can operationalize new policy actions around hepatitis B and measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV).

“I think shared decision-making has a specific meaning when the ACIP uses that terminology. I think the last time I was on the ACIP, they voted for shared decision-making. And I might not be remembering this correctly, but I’m certainly familiar with the example of human papillomavirus [HPV] vaccination.”

He added, “There are certain populations where there may not be as much benefit to HPV vaccines. And so in that theory, or in that spirit, you would give COVID-19 vaccination to people whom you thought most likely to benefit from vaccination.”

When reflecting on the most recent ACIP meeting, Ault admitted, “I was a little confused about that discussion…because that’s not something that ACIP usually gets into. It was a little unusual to hear that discussion, and we didn’t have an opportunity to look at the questions being voted on or the materials before the meeting.”

He explained that although most clinicians are familiar with the Vaccine Information Statements sheets, “ACIP doesn’t really have any jurisdiction over that. That’s a separate committee that actually makes those up. So…I thought that was a little muddled. You know, informed consent is something that’s done on a very local level, literally in doctors’ offices, and…the ACIP is supposed to be the 35,000-ft viewpoint as far as clinical recommendations.”

Turning to hepatitis B policy, Ault noted, “Prenatal testing for hepatitis B status has been the standard of care since the early 1980s, and so I’m not sure where that was coming from. And again, I’m not sure why ACIP was voting on something that’s already the standard of care.”

He emphasized that the recommendation has been in place for decades, but implementation gaps remain: “Even though we had that recommendation, we still continue to have pediatric and newborn cases of hepatitis B despite a recommendation to universally screen. So we’re never going to get to the point where we have 100% accurate screening 100% of the time. And I don’t think a vote of the ACIP is going to change that.”

He also pointed to disparities in practice: “For women with insurance, there are about 12% that aren’t tested during pregnancy. Could we make that higher? We certainly could. I have not seen equivalent data on Medicaid, but it boils down to about 10,000 infants [who] are exposed to hepatitis B every year.”

On MMRV, Ault reflected on long-standing safety concerns: “There is an increased risk of seizure with the combined vaccine, especially during that vulnerable period, the first year of life. And so that risk has been known for a long time.” He recalled, “If I remember correctly…it’s about one extra seizure for 2300 doses. And so some parents may look at that and say, 'Well, that’s 2299 times out of 2300 it’s not going to be an increased risk.'”

Despite the risks, he stressed the broader safety context: “Febrile seizures are certainly frightening…. I understand that they don’t have longer-term health consequences. Febrile seizures can certainly occur because of measles and chickenpox.”

By comparison with COVID-19 deliberations, Ault suggested the hepatitis B birth dose requires no change: “The birth dose is inexpensive, has been around for 30 years, [and] has worked remarkably well at reducing pediatric hepatitis infections by about 99%. So I’m not sure we’re going to improve on that number.”

COVID-19 vaccination: ACIP kept vaccination for people 6 months or older under shared clinical decision-making, emphasizing individualized counseling on age, prior infection, immunosuppression, and comorbidities. Prescriptions are not required.

MMRV in pediatrics: To reduce febrile seizure risk, ACIP recommended separate MMR and varicella doses before the age of 4 years rather than the combined MMRV product.

Hepatitis B: The committee tabled a proposal to delay the newborn birth dose to 30 days, leaving the current schedule unchanged while reaffirming universal hepatitis B virus (HBV) testing in pregnancy.

ACIP members also urged the CDC to provide clearer, plain-language informed-consent materials and called for more transparent posting of vote language with consistent use of the evidence-to-recommendation framework.

Clinically, the playbook remains stable: continue COVID-19 vaccination via shared decision-making for higher-risk patients, maintain HBV birth-dose practices and universal prenatal testing, and use separate MMR and varicella doses before the age of 4 years. Coverage through Vaccines for Children, Medicare/Medicaid, and commercial plans is expected to continue without new prescription requirements.

In part 1 of our conversation, the VP of the NFID discusses ACIP’s recent meeting, including COVID-19 shared decision-making, informed-consent debates, and new policy actions on hepatitis B and MMRV.

Kevin Ault, MD, on ACIP Shared Decision-Making, Informed Consent, and Vaccine Policy

Robert H Hopkins, Jr, MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), discusses what his patients are asking about and what the general public should know about the vaccines. 

How Should Individuals Interpret the FDA’s Latest COVID-19 Vaccine Authorization?

This week, the FDA authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines for fall 2025, limiting eligibility to adults aged ≥65 years and individuals with at least one underlying medical condition that increases risk of severe illness.

However, in a confusing announcement posted on social media site, X, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the vaccines are still for everyone. “The marketing authorization for those at higher risk include Moderna (6+ months), Pfizer (5+), and Novavax (12+).These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors,” Kennedy wrote.

Although the vaccines may be available after consulting providers, the new restrictions may affect insurance coverage for those outside the designated high-risk groups. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine price list, a COVID-19 dose without insurance may cost up to $140.

“I am pleased that we have 25-26 COVID-19 vaccines, FDA licensed, but I and my colleagues at NFID are dismayed to say the least about the restrictions placed on the vaccine,” Robert H Hopkins, Jr, MD, medical director of the NFID said. “You know, we still have evidence that we see hospitalizations, we see severe disease, we see death in people that don't have risk factors. And I think limiting the vaccine access to only people who have risk factors, and at age 65 and older, is going to place lives at risk.”

This decision comes a few months after the leaders of the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the FDA announced the removal of the COVID-19 vaccine from the CDC's immunization schedule for pregnant women and healthy children.

 Days later, the federal government changed its stance on the vaccine and healthy children. On the CDC's Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule by Age, the COVID-19 vaccines are available to the pediatric population under what is called shared 

One thing is clear the leadership in public health are doing what they can to confuse and dissuade people from getting vaccines, whether by minimizing the eligible groups or providing doubts about their efficacy.

“It appears to me that there is a, shall we say, a preference among some of those individuals to limit or to reduce access to COVID-19 vaccines, [there] appears to be some bias against those vaccines and their effects, and I don't think that's in accordance with the science,” Hopkins said.

He notes he was working in the clinic today and people were asking about the vaccines.

“A move by this in itself can reduce confidence in vaccines and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine itself. I saw a number of adult patients, and at least two of them raised the concern about, ‘Does this mean the vaccine is not beneficial and is not safe in people that are not high risk and not over 65?’ And that took extra time out of my morning to explain to them that this is a regulatory change that was made that is not in accord with the evidence, as I've seen it,” Hopkins said. “I think reducing confidence in effective vaccines that have saved millions of lives is not in the good service of the American people.”



References
1. Contagion Editorial team. FDA Approves Updated COVID-19 Vaccines for Fall 2025, Restricts Eligibility to High-Risk Groups. August 29, 2025. Accessed August 29, 2025.
https://www.contagionlive.com/view/fda-approves-updated-covid-19-vaccines-for-fall-2025-restricts-eligibility-to-high-risk-groups
2.X post. August 27, 2025. Accessed August 29, 2025.
https://x.com/SecKennedy/status/1960742897201872969
3. Parkinson J. Federal government changes course again on COVID-19 vaccine policy. 

https://www.contagionlive.com/view/federal-government-changes-course-again-on-covid-19-vaccine-policy

Robert Hopkins, Jr, MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), discusses what patients are asking about with regards to the vaccines and what the general public should continue to know about their medical value. 

How Should Individuals Interpret the FDA’s Latest COVID-19 Vaccine Authorization? 

Dr. Juanita Mora: Definitely COVID-19, we know affects the 65 and older population, and it hits them hard. When we look at the fall 24–25 season that we lived through last year, it's going to be reflective of what we see this year. First of all, 90% of people who were hospitalized in the fall of 2024 were 65 and over. And when we look at how many of them died because of their actual COVID-19 complications, 70% of people who died were actually 65 and older, and when it comes to looking at vaccination rates and those who were hospitalized with COVID, 65% of them had not received the vaccine for COVID-19. So this tells us that there's a lot of work that we have to do as a community of doctors to get the word out about the importance of vaccination in the hardest hit community when it comes to hospitalizations and complications from COVID-19 and continuing the COVID-19 vaccination efforts and campaigns in the 65 years and older.

Older adults remain at the highest risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes, and vaccination continues to be the most critical defense, according to Juanita Mora, MD, an allergist and immunologist in Chicago who serves largely Latino and African American communities.

“We know it affects the 65 and older population, and it hits them hard,” Mora said. Adults aged 65 years and older account for the majority of severe COVID-19 outcomes, representing about 70% of hospitalizations and 90% of deaths in the United States.

Beyond vaccination, Mora advises additional precautions for vulnerable groups. “Number one thing that I tell these 65 years and older population—mask,” she said. She added that long COVID is a major concern: “One in two of them who wind up being hospitalized end up having long symptoms, which might be wheezing, asthma, COPD, neurological, or even cardiac effects.”

Mora has been active in outreach and advocacy, speaking in English and Spanish to address misinformation. “I actually vaccinate my dad with the COVID-19 vaccine [on social media]. If I trusted in my own family, it gives them that message as well,” she said.

This fall, she is partnering with Walgreens and the American Lung Association to host a free vaccine clinic in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. “People without insurance or immigrants can go ahead and get the vaccines for free,” Mora said.

“As the holidays are approaching, we need to make sure the whole family is vaccinated against COVID-19, flu, and RSV,” she concluded. “We want to keep our grandparents safe.”

Allergist and immunologist Juanita Mora, MD, urges vaccination, masking, and outreach to safeguard vulnerable communities.

Coronavirus / COVID

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