Top Stories
Immunize.org updates its “Ask the Experts: Pneumococcal Vaccines” web page with important new 2022 recommendations for adults Immunize.org updated its popular Ask the Experts: Pneumococcal Vaccines web page on March 22. This extensive list of clinical questions and answers now reflects new ACIP recommendations (published January 2022) for the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV15 and PCV20) and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23). The changes cover advice for adults age 19–64 who are immunocompromised or have chronic health issues that put them at risk for invasive pneumococcal disease, as well as what to do for all adults age 65 and older. In addition, the questions and answers address the vaccination needs of those who received PCV13 or PPSV23 in the past.
Immunize.org's Ask the Experts main page leads you to 30 distinct web pages on a variety of topics with more than 1,100 common or challenging questions and answers about vaccines and their administration. Immunize.org's team of experts includes Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH (team lead), Carolyn B. Bridges, MD, FACP, and Iyabode Beysolow, MD, MPH.
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National Infant Immunization Week is April 24–30; prepare using CDC’s 2022 digital media toolkit National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW), April 24–May 30, highlights the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrates the achievements of immunization partners. This year, it’s particularly critical to ensure that families stay on track for routine checkups and recommended vaccinations following disruptions from COVID-19.
A CDC report released in May 2020 found a troubling drop in routine childhood vaccination as a result of families missing many in-person clinical visits during the pandemic.
Save time by using CDC's 2022 NIIW Digital Media Toolkit for your organization's NIIW activities. The toolkit includes updated logos, sample social media content, social graphics, and key messages. Please share them, using the hashtags #NIIW and #ivax2protect.
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Influenza activity and hospitalizations rise further; vaccinate during community outbreaks Influenza Surveillance
For week 11, ending on March 19, CDC's Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView summary reports that seasonal influenza activity in the United States continues its trend of gradually increasing, especially in the central and south-central regions. The number of hospital admissions has increased each week for the past seven weeks.
Influenza Vaccination Dashboard
CDC's new Weekly Flu Vaccination Dashboard shares preliminary vaccination data. This week’s key fact: vaccination coverage among pregnant people age 18–49 is 8.7 percentage points lower this season as of January 2022 compared with last season at the end of January 2021. Coverage as of January 2022 is 22.6 percentage points lower for non-Hispanic Black pregnant people than non-Hispanic White pregnant people. Coverage for all pregnant people age 18–49 is lower for all race/ethnicity groups, compared to last season.
CDC recommends everyone age 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. Influenza and COVID-19 vaccines may be given at the same visit, if needed. COVID-19 vaccination alone provides no protection from influenza or any other respiratory virus.
Vaccine Finder
If you don’t provide influenza vaccine at your site, please strongly recommend vaccination and refer people to sites that do vaccinate. Use VaccineFinder, a user-friendly website to help people of all ages find influenza, COVID-19, and other vaccines. Participating providers can update their vaccine inventory estimates on VaccineFinder. For questions or more information, contact vaccine@healthmap.org.
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Spotlight! Immunize.org's Handouts for Patients and Staff web page provides free access to hundreds of vaccination-related handouts and fact sheets. Visit Immunize.org's Handouts for Patients and Staff web page to view more than 230 free vaccination-related patient handouts and fact sheets for healthcare professionals. All items are ready to print, copy, and distribute widely. They are sorted by:
From the main page, you can search on any of the 22 topics. Some of the most popular are:
You can also view an alphabetical listing of Immunize.org’s more than 230 ready-to-print staff educational materials and patient handouts.
Visit Immunize.org's Handouts for Patients and Staff web page today!
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Journalists interview Immunize.org experts Journalists seek out Immunize.org experts to help explain vaccines to the public and policy makers. We help the media understand and communicate the complex work vaccinators do. Here is one of our recent citations.
These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.
Featured Resources
CDC’s 14th edition of the "Pink Book," Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, now available in hard copy CDC's 14th edition of Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (also known as the "Pink Book") is now available in hard copy. The previous edition was published in 2015. This 446-page edition provides updated disease and vaccination information useful to everyone involved in vaccination.
The 14th edition of the "Pink Book" includes:
- General vaccination recommendations
- Vaccine safety, storage and handling, and administration information
- Information about vaccine-preventable diseases, including pathogenesis, clinical features, epidemiology, and secular trends in the United States
- Information about vaccines, including characteristics, schedule and use, efficacy, safety, and contraindications and precautions
Download the "Pink Book"
Order the bound hard copy of the "Pink Book"
- Order a hard copy from the Public Health Foundation ($50 plus shipping)
- Save 20% on your order when you order 250+ copies and ship to one location
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Montgomery County Immunization Coalition develops social media toolkit in support of National Minority Health Month Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County Immunization Coalition (MCIC) developed a social media toolkit in support of National Minority Health Month (NMHM) in April. MCIC's toolkit brings attention to the importance of COVID-19 vaccination, including boosters, as one of the strongest tools to end the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affects communities of color.
The toolkit includes social media messages and images in six languages: Chinese, English, Hindi, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The messages and images can be used across social media platforms to encourage communities to get all the recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including a booster during NMHM. Include the hashtags #NMHM2022 and #BoostYourCommunity with your posts.
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CHOP’s Vaccine Education Center releases new HPV-related infographic for the public Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) Vaccine Education Center (VEC) released Human Papillomavirus, an infographic for the public. The infographic offers information about HPV infection and vaccination, such as the types of HPV that most commonly cause cervical cancer and genital warts, relative rates of HPV-associated cancers among males and females, how the vaccine is made, and for whom the vaccine is recommended.
The infographic is posted on VEC’s Look at Each Vaccine: Human Papillomavirus web page.
 
VEC's Questions and Answers about HPV and the Vaccine web page, in which Paul Offit, MD, addresses dozens of HPV questions from the public, is also valuable. View and share these resources with your channels!
CHOP Vaccine Education Center archives March 16 webinar titled “Approving COVID-19 Vaccines for Children: When Do We Know Enough?” featuring Paul Offit, MD; CE available The Vaccine Education Center (VEC) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia presented a 1-hour webinar titled “Approving COVID-19 Vaccines for Children: When Do We Know Enough?” on March 16 featuring Paul Offit, MD, director of the VEC. The recent webinar can be found in the Current Issues in Vaccines webinar archive.
Free continuing education credits (CME, CEU, or CPE) are available.
Watch the webinar in the Current Issues in Vaccines webinar archive.
Too many teens are behind on vaccines! Adolescent Immunization Action Week is April 4–8; use Unity Consortium’s partner toolkit in your outreach.
Adolescent Immunization Action Week (AIAW) was launched this year by Unity Consortium to urge healthcare providers and parents to be sure adolescents receive all recommended immunizations. This first observance will be held April 4–8.
Unity created the Unity Partner Toolkits website (password: unity) to help amplify messages to healthcare providers, parents, adolescents, and young adults. Use these resources to help improve adolescent immunization coverage within your practice.
Visit Unity’s AIAW campaign page for social media-ready materials you can use to draw attention to the importance of improving adolescent immunization coverage.
Order today! Laminated versions of CDC’s 2022 immunization schedules are available to ship. Immunize.org laminated versions of the 2022 U.S. child and adolescent immunization schedule and the 2022 U.S. adult immunization schedule are available to order. They are in stock and shipping now. Order while supplies last.
While the schedules are available online from CDC at no cost, Immunize.org’s printed, laminated schedules are ideal for use in any busy healthcare setting where vaccinations are given. Their tough coating can be wiped down, and they’re durable enough to stand up to a year's worth of use.
In 2022, the length of each schedule with appendices was extended by two pages. As a result, the laminated schedules are now published in a standard 8.5” X 11” booklet format.
- The child/adolescent schedule booklet is ten pages (i.e., five double-sided pages) and includes a bonus page with Immunize.org’s popular 1-page handout summarizing the dose, route, and needle size recommendations for all vaccines and recipients
- The adult schedule booklet is eight pages (i.e., four double-sided pages)
 
With color coding for easy reading, our laminated schedules replicate the original CDC formatting, including the essential tables and notes.
PRICING
| Number of Copies |
Cost |
| 1–4 copies |
$7.50 each |
| 5–19 copies |
$5.50 each |
| 20–99 copies |
$4.50 each |
| 100–499 copies |
$4.00 each |
| 500–999 copies |
$3.50 each |
For quotes on customizing or placing orders of 1,000 copies or more, call 651-647-9009 or email admininfo@immunize.org.
Visit the Shop Immunize.org: Laminated Schedules web page for more information on the schedules, to view images of all the pages, to download the order form, and to order today!
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65+ Flu Defense website offers resources for healthcare professionals serving older adults Confident recommendations for influenza vaccine from healthcare providers are powerfully persuasive. To assist you in maximizing protection for your patients, Immunize.org, in collaboration with Seqirus, updated the 65+ Flu Defense website.
A new fact sheet on the site, The Importance of Preventing Influenza during a Pandemic, offers responses to help guide discussions with patients on the increased importance of flu vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Age increases risks associated with COVID-19 infection including hospitalization and death. Preliminary studies suggest coinfection with influenza B and SARS-CoV-2 may elevate the risk of poor outcomes.
This helpful site includes information, tools, and tips for communicating with these adults about the scope and severity of influenza. Resources include:
Check out the updated 65+ Flu Defense website at www.influenza-defense.org to assist your efforts in protecting this vulnerable population.
Recognize colleagues and students with Immunize.org's elegantly designed "Vaccines Save Lives" black enamel pins Immunize.org’s elegantly designed “Vaccines Save Lives” pins are meaningful gifts for people who care about vaccination. The pin makes a refined statement in hard black enamel with gold lettering and edges, measuring 1.125" x 0.75".
The pin is a stick-through-post variety with the back end covered by a round rubber cap that holds the pin securely. A gold metal spring-lock clasp is also provided.
Wear these pins on clothing, uniforms, and white coats to show that you value vaccines!
 
Click here for "Vaccines Save Lives" pin pricing and ordering information.
Notable Publications
MMWR Recap: Articles regarding COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization and death
CDC recently published several articles first distributed as MMWR Early Releases:
- Effectiveness of mRNA Vaccination in Preventing COVID-19–Associated Invasive Mechanical Ventilation and Death—United States, March 2021–January 2022 (MMWR, March 25, HTML or PDF)
- COVID-19–Associated Hospitalizations among Adults during SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron Variant Predominance, by Race/Ethnicity and Vaccination Status—COVID-NET, 14 States, July 2021–January 2022 (MMWR, March 25, HTML or PDF)
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- MMWR main page provides access to MMWR Weekly and its companion publications
Global News
CDC identifies international destinations at high risk for poliomyelitis
CDC’s Travelers Health main page includes a web page on “Travel Health Notices.” On March 21, CDC posted information on this site, identifying destinations in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe as “alert level 2” with respect to polio. In these areas travelers should practice enhanced precautions.
 
CDC suggests that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series. If traveling to areas of high risk, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime polio vaccine booster.
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Upcoming Events
Virtual: FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet on April 6 to discuss COVID-19 booster doses and process for COVID-19 vaccine strain selection FDA will convene its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) on April 6 from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (ET) to discuss use of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses and the process for COVID-19 vaccine strain selection to address current and emerging variants. Briefing materials for this meeting are typically posted 1 to 2 days before the meeting at the VRBPAC web page specific for the April 6 meeting.
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