Impacts of COVID-19 on Vaccination Coverage Around the World, with Arthur Reingold, MD

Arthur L. Reingold, MD, professor of epidemiology at UC Berkeley Public Health, interviewed with the HCPLive team at the 2025 American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference, touching on a significant topic: barriers to vaccination coverage and COVID-19’s impact on public perceptions.

Reingold, who is known for his research on infectious disease prevention at both the national level and in low-income countries, was asked about his view on the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped or exacerbated global disparities in vaccine access and uptake.

“We in California certainly tried to point to those disparities that are there by socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and urban versus rural, and the like, and tried to make sure that our state, as well as other western states that we're working with such as Washington, Oregon, and Nevada, took these disparities into account,” Reingold said. “We did everything possible to minimize them with regard to access to the COVID vaccine, I think we did a reasonable job in that respect.”

However, Reingold noted that the vaccines that exist do not provide durable, long-term protection, especially against variants as they evolve. This, he added, raises the issue of a need for boosters, just as are required with flu.

“At the moment, the coverage with boosters has markedly declined,” Reingold explained. “Some people have concerns about how well the vaccine protects. They point to its ‘failure’ or its minimal effect on transmission. Of course, there's the habitual question of long-term safety, quote-unquote, which I think is really somewhat of a red herring. To be honest, we don't have long-term safety data for any drug or vaccine in the way that people seem to think we need to have. So if that's your standard, it sounds very scientific and rational, but in reality is simply not practical.”

Reingold was also asked about the role pulmonologists and other health care providers play in ensuring immunization is more widely practiced in today’s climate.

“I do understand the challenges that are there for clinicians,” Reingold said. “But you know, trying to convince either their adult patients or the parents of their pediatric patients to be vaccinated is really important, however challenging those discussions can be…Many pulmonologists have among their patients some of the highest risk individuals when it comes to pneumococcal infections, influenza, COVID-19, and the like, so to the extent that they're managing the immunizations of those patients, I think they have an extraordinarily important role to play.”

For more information about Reingold’s views and presentation information, view his full interview segment posted above. To find out more from ATS, view our latest conference coverage.

The quotes used in this interview summary were edited for clarity.

Reingold’s disclosures include having served as a consultant for AstraZeneca.