Issue 1875: May 27, 2026

Immunize.org is pleased to offer T-shirts in three designs (unisex, women’s, and baseball). Each T-shirt features our logo on the front and, on the back, our tag line: “Save Lives. Immunize.” These T-shirts are fashioned in a super soft, premium tri-blend fabric that doesn’t shrink or wrinkle with washing. Designed with frontline vaccinators in mind, they pair perfectly with scrub pants for vaccination clinics and make a pro-vaccine statement whenever you or your team want to show your support for immunization. Perfect for the gym, clinic, or anywhere you like!

Three designs include:

• Unisex Tri-Blend Crew Tee
• Women's Tri-Blend Tee
• Unisex Tri-Blend 3/4 Raglan Tee

   
     

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In its May 20 issue, New England Journal of Medicine published Childhood Vaccine Hesitancy. The summary appears below.

Vaccine hesitancy exists along a spectrum; most parents with hesitancy are motivated to protect their children but are often concerned about safety. Routine childhood vaccines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics have substantially reduced the incidence of disease and maintain a strong safety record. Clinicians are the most trusted source of vaccine information, and clear, confident recommendations are closely linked to higher uptake. Presumptive communication approaches are more effective than open-ended approaches, especially when paired with respectful dialogue. Empathy-driven, patient-centered strategies, including motivational interviewing, help address concerns, counter misinformation, and build trust while preserving relationships that may encourage future vaccination decisions.

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In its May 20 issue, New England Journal of Medicine published Clusters of Concern—Spatial Link Between Childhood Undervaccination and Measles Outbreaks in South Carolina. Portions of the letter appear below.

These findings indicate that undervaccination in South Carolina is concentrated in geographic clusters. The spatial alignment between hot-spot tracts and measles-exposed schools suggests that geographic clustering of undervaccinated students may serve as a precursor to outbreak activity. The concentration of documented measles exposures in Spartanburg County may reflect the geographic overlap between clusters of undervaccination and a close-knit community that is concentrated in that area, whereas the geographic separation of other undervaccinated hot spots from the Spartanburg cluster may have prevented measles from spreading more broadly. . . . With measles outbreaks active in multiple states, proactive spatial surveillance of high-risk clusters may support earlier, more targeted public health interventions to reduce barriers to immunization, prevent further clustering, and enhance outbreak-control efficiency.

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KFF (formerly Kaiser Family Foundation) published a review titled Federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs: Overview and Current Issues. Portions of the introduction appear below:

For decades, the federal government has overseen two key vaccine injury compensation programs: the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). The VICP and CICP are designed to help maintain vaccine access while also recognizing that vaccine injuries can occur and those affected by such injuries should be compensated. . . .

To provide background and context on this topic, this brief summarizes the history and rationale for these programs and their key elements, analyzes publicly available information on claims and compensation under the programs, and discusses key policy issues they currently face. The programs, while both having been created as alternatives to civil courts, vary significantly in their structures, processed, vaccines covered, and compensation rates and amounts, among other factors.

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In its May 1 issue, Pediatrics published SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Before and During Pregnancy and Prevention of Infant COVID-19 Infection. Maternal vaccination at any time during pregnancy was most effective at preventing infant COVID-19-related hospitalizations in the first 6 months of life. Portions of the abstract and a link to the video abstract appear below.
 


We examined the effectiveness of maternal messenger RNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination before and during pregnancy in preventing COVID-19 in infants aged 0-6 months born between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2023, at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. . . .

Among 78 644 infants, 3648 (4.6%) had COVID-19 infection and 76 (0.1%) experienced COVID-19-related hospitalization before age 6 months. For the 4 prepregnancy vaccination intervals, estimates for VE (vaccine effectiveness) against COVID-19 infection ranged from -14.9% . . . for less than 3 months prepregnancy to 23.6% . . . for more than 12 months prepregnancy. VE anytime during pregnancy was 7.5%. . .against infant COVID-19 infection and 52.9% . . . against infant COVID-19-related hospitalization. Effectiveness of third-trimester vaccination was 19.2% . . . against infant COVID-19 infection and 64.6% . . . against infant COVID-19-related hospitalizations. . . .

Maternal vaccination during the third trimester was protective against infant COVID-19 infections. Maternal vaccination during pregnancy, particularly during the third trimester, was effective against infant COVID-19-related hospitalizations. Vaccination before pregnancy did not protect infants.

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In its May 1 issue, Pediatrics published Clinician Perceptions of the Impact of Switching HPV Vaccine Initiation to 9–10 Years. Portions of the abstract appear below.

Although HPV vaccine initiation as early as aged 9 years has been recommended, most clinicians initiate at ages 11 to 12 years. We assessed clinician-reported impact of early initiation on parental responses and vaccine discussions. . . .

As part of an ongoing cluster randomized pragmatic trial across 31 Colorado and California pediatric practices, we allocated practices to switch HPV vaccine initiation to ages 9 to 10 years or to enhanced usual care (initiation at ages 11 to 12 years). All clinicians received online training on improving HPV vaccination; intervention arm clinicians also received training on initiating at ages 9 to 10 years. We surveyed all clinicians in both arms at 1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months (all >80% response rates), and queried clinicians in the ages 9 to 10 years arm about vaccination at ages 9 to 10 vs 11 to 12 years. . . .

Almost all intervention arm clinicians switched rapidly to the ages 9 to 10 years initiation; most control clinicians remained at ages 11 to 12 years. Parental concerns/questions, pushback, hesitancy, and adherence to recommendations did not differ significantly between study arms and were similar at ages 9 to 10 vs 11 to 12 years among intervention arm clinicians. Only about one-tenth of clinicians in both arms brought up sexual activity during HPV vaccine discussions; two-thirds in both arms indicated parents sometimes/often did. Intervention arm clinicians were more likely than controls to state discussions were shorter by a lot/little (55% vs 37%, P = .005) since study initiation. . . .

Initiating HPV vaccination at ages 9 to 10 years instead of ages 11 to 12 years had little impact on parental questions/concerns, pushback, hesitancy, or clinicians' ability to convince hesitant parents. Initiation at ages 9 to 10 years was perceived by clinicians to shorten HPV vaccine discussions.

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Vaccinators and vaccine recipients face unprecedented challenges as vaccination recommendations of federal, state, and healthcare professional organizations proliferate and diverge. The Summit Adult Vaccination Recommendations Review (SAVRR) Council is an independently funded committee of the National Adult and Influenza Immunization Summit (NAIIS), known as “the Summit,” dedicated to supporting implementation of evidence-based vaccination recommendations in this new environment.

The SAVRR Council will host its first public webinar online 2:00–3:00 p.m. (ET) on June 9.

The SAVRR Council is composed of a broad range of voting member organizations and observers whose representatives have been screened by their organizations for conflicts of interest. All participating organizations and their representatives are listed at the SAVRR web page. Vaccine manufacturers and trade organizations do not participate in SAVRR meetings and do not provide any financial support for the Council. The objectives of the SAVRR Council are twofold:

1. Serve as a forum to provide practical, diverse stakeholder feedback to organizations making vaccination recommendations
2. Support clinical implementation of evidence-based vaccination recommendations by identifying challenges to implementation and recommending strategies to increase affordable access and vaccine use

Working meetings of the SAVRR Council occur monthly, with quarterly public meetings planned. The initial 1-hour public webinar will describe its purpose and the procedures that guide its work. In addition, it will review the SAVRR Council’s preliminary recommendations for effective implementation of fall respiratory vaccination recommendations. The meeting will conclude with discussion of plans for future open meetings and opportunities for ongoing engagement. Immunize.org administers and serves as the fiscal agent for the NAIIS and the SAVRR Council.

Register for the meeting.

Related Links

• NAIIS main page
• SAVRR Council main page
• SAVRR Council Member Organizations (PDF)

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