Prepare for next influenza season with Immunize.org’s new handout, “Talking with Your Patient about Contraindications and Precautions to Influenza Vaccination”
Immunize.org's new handout, Talking with Your Patient about Contraindications and Precautions to Influenza Vaccination, provides key information to help clinical personnel determine whether an influenza vaccine can be provided to the patient safely. It can be printed as a two-sided single page for review during huddles and in-services.
 
This handout is the companion piece to the patient handout Not Sure If You Can Get an Influenza Vaccine? Both address common concerns (e.g., egg allergy, Guillain-Barré syndrome, pregnancy, and weakened immune system) with clear guidance reflecting CDC’s recommendations.
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Tomorrow! Watch May 19 ACIP meeting on COVID-19 vaccines. CDC will convene its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) May 19 from 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (ET). The meeting will include discussion of COVID-19 vaccines. The meeting agenda was not available at press time, but will be posted on the website.
No registration is required to watch webcasts of live ACIP meetings or listen via telephone. Opportunities for public comment are described at the website.
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CDC launches interactive tool for the public to assess need for first or second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine CDC added a new interactive tool to its COVID-19 web resources for the public, to help users identify whether they (or someone else) need to receive a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine. The “COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters” tool asks a series of simple questions about age, immunocompromise, number and type of previous doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and how long ago they received the most recent vaccination. From these answers, the tool reports whether a first or second booster dose may be beneficial and presents considerations for when to receive it.
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Influenza activity continues to increase in parts of the country. Due to late-season activity, influenza surveillance efforts have been extended. Influenza Surveillance
For week 18, ending on May 7, CDC's Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView summary reports that seasonal influenza activity continues to increase in parts of the country. Hospitalization rates from FluSurv-NET are highest among people age 65 years and older, followed by children age 0 to 4 years and then adults age 50 to 64 years. Influenza vaccines for the current season may be administered to unvaccinated individuals if protection is needed.
Due to late-season activity during the 2021–2022 season, FluSurv-NET surveillance has been extended beyond the typical end date of April 30 (MMWR Week 17). Comparisons with similar late-season weekly rates is not possible because similar data from prior seasons is not available.
In other influenza news, CDC continues to monitor the expanding avian influenza outbreak now present in most U.S. states among poultry and wild birds. CDC’s assessment is that the risk to human health remains low. CDC's What to Know about Bird Flu poster is now available in Spanish, as are CDC's digital avian influenza communication resources (view in Spanish).
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! Use Immunize.org’s navigation features to quickly find the resources you need. In this week's Spotlight, we summarize navigation features at Immunize.org that help to quickly find the resources you need.
Our "Favorites" tab links to 18 of the most highly visited pages on Immunize.org's content-rich website, including training materials and clinic tools. The “Favorites” tab is easy to find—it’s the first of the six blue tabs atop each immunize.org web page. When you hover over this blue tab or select it, the Favorites main page will appear.
Our “Guide to immunize.org” appears in the light gray section at the bottom of each web page. The alphabetized topics link you directly to Immunize.org's main pages.
Our Google search bar, which appears in the dark gray bar atop each page, will aid in searching Immunize.org content.
Our View All Materials web page offers access to all of Immunize.org's handouts for patients and staff, sortable by title, language, date, and item number.
These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.
Immunize.org Pages and Handouts
Immunize.org updates its vaccine storage and handling "Emergency Response Worksheet" for addressing power failures and temperature excursions
Immunize.org recently updated its vaccine storage and handling resource titled Emergency Response Worksheet. The worksheet helps healthcare professionals properly deal with the aftermath of power failures and temperature excursions. Two vaccines were added—Jynneos (smallpox and monkeypox) and Ticovac (tick-borne encephalitis). The disease prevented by Vivotif (typhoid) was corrected.
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Visit Immunize.org's “Vaccines: COVID-19” main page for the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines
Bookmark Immunize.org’s Vaccines: COVID-19 main page for quick access to links to key COVID-19 vaccine resource pages from Immunize.org, CDC, and other partners.
As policies for COVID-19 vaccines are updated and new CDC materials are released,
Immunize.org’s Vaccines: COVID-19 main page and resources will continue to be updated.
Organizing a new vaccination program? Use Immunize.org’s Vaccinating Adults: A Step-by-Step Guide—free to download by chapter or in its entirety. Download Immunize.org’s free 142-page book on adult vaccination, to help build your program and train your team: Vaccinating Adults: A Step-by-Step Guide (Guide).
This thorough "how to" guide on adult vaccination provides easy-to-use, practical information covering all essential activities. It helps vaccine providers enhance their existing adult vaccination services or introduce them into any clinical setting.
The Guide is available to download/print either by chapter or in its entirety free at www.immunize.org/guide. The National Vaccine Program Office and CDC both supported the development of the Guide and provided early technical review.
The Guide is a valuable resource to assist providers in increasing adult vaccination rates. Be sure to get a copy today!
Please note: this guide was produced in 2017, before the COVID-19 era, and reflects the recommendations of that time.
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“Evaluation of mRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccine in Children 6 to 11 Years of Age” published in NEJM
On May 11, the New England Journal of Medicine published Evaluation of mRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccine in Children 6 to 11 Years of Age. This vaccine (Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine) is not yet authorized by the FDA for use in this age group. The conclusion appears below:
Two 50-mcg doses of the mRNA-1273 vaccine were found to be safe and effective in inducing immune responses and preventing Covid-19 in children 6 to 11 years of age; these responses were noninferior to those in young adults.
“Progress toward Polio Eradication—Worldwide, January 2020–April 2022” published in MMWR
CDC published Progress toward Polio Eradication—Worldwide, January 2020–April 2022 in the May 13 issue of MMWR. A media summary of the MMWR article appears below.
As global polio cases continue to decline, polio-affected countries and partners should build upon current efforts to reach polio eradication goals, including strengthening surveillance systems and enhancing efforts to immunize all children. The number of cases of both wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) decreased in 2021 from prior years likely due to restored quality of surveillance and essential immunization services, including national programs and campaign activities. Nonetheless, polio remains a threat to all under- and unvaccinated children. Although WPV1 cases have been detected in Afghanistan and Pakistan in early 2022, the decrease in case numbers in 2021–2022 to date indicates marked progress toward WPV1 eradication. Recent WPV1 detection in Malawi is an example that until all poliovirus transmission is interrupted, there will continue to be a risk of polio spreading to polio-free areas of the world. Polio-affected countries, with support from partners, must sustain and enhance current global efforts to reach eradication goals.
Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.
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Reminder: Virtual: HHS hosts webinar, “Federal Implementation of Updated Hepatitis B Vaccination Recommendations,” on May 23
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) will host a webinar titled Federal Implementation of Updated Hepatitis B Vaccination Recommendations from 2:00–3:30 p.m. (ET) on May 23. A panel of federal leaders will discuss the Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan and how federal partners are working to increase U.S. hepatitis B vaccination uptake.
Register for the webinar.
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