According to CDC, each year in the United States respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) leads to approximately 60,000–120,000 hospitalizations and 6,000–10,000 deaths among adults age 65 and older. Like influenza, RSV is a seasonal virus, with peak activity typically occurring each fall or winter. On May 3, FDA approved the first vaccine to prevent RSV, to be distributed with the brand name Arexvy (manufactured by GSK). Arexvy is approved for preventing lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) caused by RSV in individuals age 60 and older. The next step on the vaccine’s path to clinical implementation is for CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to consider recommendations for the vaccine's use at its next meeting. A portion of the FDA press release appears below.

The safety and effectiveness of Arexvy is based on the FDA’s analysis of data from an ongoing, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study conducted in the U.S. and internationally in individuals 60 years of age and older. The main clinical study of Arexvy was designed to assess the safety and effectiveness of a single dose administered to individuals 60 years of age and older. Participants will remain in the study through three RSV seasons to assess the duration of effectiveness and the safety and effectiveness of repeat vaccination. Data for a single dose of Arexvy from the first RSV season of the study were available for the FDA’s analysis. . . .

Among the participants who have received Arexvy and the participants who have received a placebo, the vaccine significantly reduced the risk of developing RSV-associated LRTD by 82.6% and reduced the risk of developing severe RSV-associated LRTD by 94.1%. . . . the most commonly reported side effects by individuals who received Arexvy were injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and joint stiffness/pain.

Related Links

• FDA: FDA Approves First Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccine press release (5/3/23)
• FDA: Arexvy product approval letter (5/3/23)
• FDA: Arexvy web page 
• FDA: Arexvy Package Insert 

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Immunize.org updates its "Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools"

Immunize.org reviews and updates the Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools every month, prominently indicating when it was last updated at the top of the page. In accordance with recent CDC and FDA changes to COVID-19 vaccine use and availability, the checklist has been modified as follows:

• All references to monovalent mRNA (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) vaccine formulations have been removed, including all FDA and CDC materials for monovalent products
• Links to CDC clinical materials have been updated as they were available at the time of the checklist’s publication. Updates to a few clinical materials are still in process.
• Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) is no longer included on the checklist. All remaining doses of this vaccine have expired.

All COVID-19 vaccination providers should review the checklist regularly. The checklist is posted on Immunize.org's Vaccines: COVID-19 main page to help practices stay up to date.


 
Related Links

• Immunize.org: Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools (PDF)
• Immunize.org: Vaccines: COVID-19 main page
• Immunize.org: Ask the Experts: COVID-19 web page
• CDC: Interim Clinical Considerations main page summarizing use of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States

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Mother’s Day is May 14; thanks to all the moms who give babies a healthy start with recommended vaccinations

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 14, this year. Immunize.org celebrates mothers and mothers-to-be and all they do to give their children a healthy start in life. Protecting babies through vaccination begins during pregnancy. Receiving influenza, Tdap, and COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy protects the mother and delivers protective antibodies through the placenta from mom to baby, providing protection through the first few months of life. CDC, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and other experts recommend these three vaccines during pregnancy.



Tdap is needed during each pregnancy, preferably between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation. Tdap helps protect against whooping cough (pertussis), which can be life-threatening for newborns, as well as neonatal tetanus and diphtheria.

People who get influenza or COVID-19 infections while pregnant face an increased risk of hospitalization and complications, compared to their nonpregnant peers. Getting influenza vaccine during each pregnancy helps protect mother and baby from influenza. COVID-19 vaccination should be given during pregnancy whenever it is due. Both vaccines are well-studied and safe at any stage of pregnancy. Vaccines given during pregnancy help protect mother and baby from serious complications and death. 

Thank you to all the moms who work hard to safeguard the health and well-being of their children every day. Immunize.org wishes all mothers a happy Mother's Day!

Related Links

• CDC: Pregnancy and Vaccination main page
• CHOP VEC: Vaccines and Your Baby booklet (view in Spanish)
• Immunize.org: Handouts: Pregnancy and Vaccines main page 
• Immunize.org: Screening Checklists about Vaccine Contraindications and Precautions main page
• Immunize.org: CDC Schedules main page 

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2023 Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman Essay Contest: Encourage students in grades 6–12 to enter

The Vaccine Makers Project, the classroom-based program of the Vaccine Education Center (VEC) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, invites submissions for the 2023 Maurice R. Hilleman Essay Contest. Students in grades 6 through 12 are encouraged to learn about Dr. Hilleman’s life and accomplishments and submit a 500- to 600-word essay by June 9, 2023. This year's writing prompt is "Preparedness is an important component of science as demonstrated by Maurice Hilleman when he identified the 1957 influenza pandemic. How is preparedness critical in science today?" 

This year VEC partnered with Public Health Association of British Columbia, Kids Boost Immunity, and Frontline Immunity to open the Maurice R. Hilleman Essay Contest to Canadian students. 

Details and the entry form are available at HillemanFilm.com/contest. This year there will be three winners. The winners will each receive $500, a certificate, and recognition at a virtual award event this fall. Please share this information with eligible students or with teachers who may be interested in sharing with their students.

Related Links

• The Vaccine Makers Project website
• VEC: Hilleman Film website

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Immunize.org's Influenza Vaccination Honor Roll recognizes facilities that take a stand for patient safety by implementing policies for mandatory healthcare personnel influenza vaccination. There are now 1,300 organizations enrolled. Since February 8, 2023, Immunize.org welcomed two additional healthcare organizations.

• Vybe Urgent Care Center, Bala Cynwyd, PA 
• University of Michigan Health – West, Wyoming, MI

Eligibility:

• Eligible organizations: Hospitals, long-term care facilities, medical practices, pharmacies, professional organizations, health departments, and other government entities
• Requirements:
  • Your policy must require influenza vaccination for all staff
  • The application must describe measures to prevent transmission of influenza from unvaccinated personnel to patients (e.g., masking for the entire work shift)

• Immunize.org: List of Influenza Vaccination Honorees, all healthcare settings, by state
• Immunize.org: Long-Term Care/Assisted Living Influenza Vaccination Honorees by state
• Immunize.org: Influenza Vaccination Honor Roll program, including:
  • Position statements from professional societies and leading healthcare organizations in support of mandatory influenza vaccination
  • Application form for Influenza Vaccination Honor Roll
• Immunize.org: Honor Roll for Patient Safety web page

Talking about Vaccines web page provides healthcare professionals with 11 topical web pages to help them discuss vaccination with concerned parents or patients. Topics include, for example, adjuvants, alternative medicine, autism, religious concerns, and thimerosal.

Unprotected People Stories web page features more than 100 real-life accounts of people who suffered or died from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Handouts for Patients and Staff leads to hundreds of resources that are free to download, print, copy, and distribute widely.

Vaccine Basics: Common Questions about Vaccines on Immunize.org’s public website, vaccineinformation.org, offers patients and caregivers timely and accurate information about vaccines and the diseases they prevent. 

These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.

• New York Times: One Dose of HPV Vaccine Prevents Infection for at Least Three Years (5/2/23)
• Washington Post: Biden Administration Tests Vaccines to Fight Avian Flu (5/2/23)
• WebMD: CDC Plans to End Community-Level COVID Reporting (5/1/23)
• CBS: Biden Administration Ending Vaccine Mandate for Federal Workers and International Travelers (5/1/23)
• Healio: Pediatric Vaccine Adherence Was Improving before Pandemic, but Not for Everyone (4/30/23)
• Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Salk Legacy Exhibit at Pitt Displays Items Related to the Development of the Polio Vaccine (4/29/23)

It helps your patients when you provide vaccine information in the language your patient prefers. Seven translations of Immunize.org's handouts "Vaccinations for Preteens and Teens" and "Vaccinations for Adults" were updated and are now available for healthcare providers to print and use with patients whose preferred language is not English.

Vaccinations for Preteens and Teens languages include: 

• Spanish 
• Arabic 
• Chinese-Simplified 
• French 
• Korean 
• Russian 
• Vietnamese 

Immunize.org recently updated "Vaccinations for Preteens and Teens" to categorize vaccines routinely administered in early childhood as “maybe needed”; this flags preteens and teens who may have missed out on routine vaccinations earlier in life. Also, a QR code linking to the online version of the document was added.

Vaccinations for Adults languages include: 

• Spanish 
• Arabic 
• Chinese-Simplified 
• French 
• Korean 
• Russian 
• Vietnamese 

Immunize.org's most recent update to "Vaccinations for Adults" incorporates the latest vaccination recommendations for COVID-19, universal hepatitis B, new pneumococcal conjugates, and routine zoster vaccination for immunocompromised adults.

Related Links

• Immunize.org: Handouts: Adolescent Vaccination main page
• Immunize.org: Parent Handouts main page
• Immunize.org: Vaccination for Adults: Schedules for Patients main page
• Immunize.org: Adult Vaccination main page
• Immunize.org: Handouts main page to see educational materials sorted by category
• Immunize.org: Educational Materials for Patients and Staff—an alphabetical list of more than 230 ready-to-print staff educational materials and patient handouts

Infectious IDeas, a podcast series from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), brings leading experts together for thought-provoking conversations. The latest entry in the series, Championing Global Health Equity, features Katherine L. O’Brien, MD, MPH. A description from the web page appears below.

An international leader who played a key role in shaping the global COVID-19 vaccine strategy, Katherine L. O’Brien, MD, MPH, is now focused on bringing communities around the world up to date on immunizations and creating an accord to improve the global response to the next pandemic.

Voices for Vaccines (VFV) posted a new entry in its Vax Talk podcast series: Anti-vaxxers Are Litigious featuring Dorit Reiss, LLB, PhD. A description from the VFV web page appears below. 

It feels like anti-vaxxers are bringing public health to court in droves. Does this spell the doom of people who don’t like getting measles and polio?

To explain why we shouldn’t panic and how this litigiousness works, we invite our friend Dorit Reiss, legal scholar and all-around good person.



Related Links

• Voices for Vaccines: Resources main page
• Voices for Vaccines podcast page

Immunize.org's laminated versions of the 2023 U.S. child and adolescent immunization schedule and the 2023 U.S. adult immunization schedule are still in stock. Once sold out, we will not print more until 2024.

While the schedules are available online from CDC at no cost, Immunize.org’s laminated schedules are ideal for use in any busy healthcare setting. Their tough coating can be wiped down, and they’re durable enough to stand up to a year of use.

• Length: Each schedule with appendices is 12 pages
• Size: Standard 8.5” X 11” booklet format
• Full Color: With color coding for easy reading, our laminated schedules replicate the original CDC formatting, including the essential tables and notes
• Bonus: The adult schedule includes Immunize.org’s popular 1-page handout summarizing the dose, route, and needle length recommendations for all vaccines and recipients

    

Pricing for Each Schedule
$10.00: 1 copy
$  9.50 each: 2–4 copies
$  8.50 each: 5–19 copies
$  7.50 each: 20–99 copies
$  6.00 each: 100–499 copies 
$  5.00 each: 500–999 copies
$  4.00 each: 1,000–1,999 copies
$  3.25 each: 2,000+ copies

Visit Shop Immunize.org: Laminated Schedules to view images of each page and order today!

For additional information, call 651-647-9009 or email admininfo@immunize.org.

Related Links

• Immunize.org: Laminated Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedules (0–18 years) web page
• Immunize.org: Laminated Adult Immunization Schedules (19 and older) web page
• Immunize.org: Shop Immunize.org main page 
• CDC: Immunization Schedules

Immunize.org's personal immunization record cards, printed on rip-proof, smudge-proof, water-proof paper, are designed to last a lifetime. They fit in a wallet when folded. The record cards are for you to give to your patients as a permanent personal vaccination record and are sold in boxes of 250.

• Child & Teen Immunization Record Card
• Adult Immunization Record Card
• Lifetime Immunization Record Card

Make bulk purchases and receive quantity discounts. For quotes on larger quantities or customizing, or to request sample cards, call 651-647-9009 or email admininfo@immunize.org.

CDC published COVID-19 Mortality Update—United States, 2022 on May 5 in MMWR. A portion of the summary appears below. 

COVID-19 was associated with approximately 244,000 deaths in the United States during January–December 2022. . . .

The age-adjusted COVID-19 death rate declined 47% compared with 2021. As in 2020 and 2021, most COVID-19 deaths occurred in a hospital inpatient setting, but an increasing percentage occurred in the decedent’s home or a nursing home or long-term care facility. . . .

Provisional death estimates provide an early signal about shifts in COVID-19 mortality trends. Timely and actionable data can guide public health policies and interventions for populations experiencing higher COVID-19–associated mortality.

Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.

Related Link

• MMWR's main page provides access to MMWR Weekly and its companion publications

The National Foundation of Infectious Diseases (NFID) will host a webinar titled Shingles Prevention through Vaccination, 12:00–1:00 p.m. (ET) on May 17. The interactive panel will discuss the importance of herpes zoster vaccination to help prevent shingles.

There is no fee to participate in this activity, but pre-registration is required.

Register for the webinar.

An on-demand recording of the webinar will be available on May 18.