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Spanish versions of new Vaccine Information Statement for RSV vaccine for older adults and updated multi-vaccine VIS for infants now available
Immunize.org posted two new Spanish translations of Vaccine Information Statements (VISs), published by CDC. The new Spanish translation of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine VIS reflects the 2023 ACIP recommendation for RSV vaccination for adults age 60 years or older using shared clinical decision-making. The new Spanish translation of “Your Child’s First Vaccines” VIS provides information on diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib, hepatitis B, pneumococcal, and poliovirus vaccines, including 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV20) as an option for vaccination.
 
Immunize.org updated its corresponding reference documents related to the use of VISs, You Must Provide Patients with Vaccine Information Statements (VISs)—It's Federal Law! and Dates of Current Vaccine Information Statements (VISs)
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Immunization advocates: registration is open for the 16th National Conference for Immunization Coalitions and Partnerships to be held April 9–11, 2024, in Philadelphia
Registration for the 16th National Conference for Immunization Coalitions and Partners (NCICP) is now open. The NCICP is the only conference solely dedicated to collaboration and partnership to improve immunization uptake, educate the community, and prevent the spread of disease. The Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition is proud to host the event on April 9–11 in Philadelphia, PA, at the Loews Hotel.
You are welcome to share the prospectus with potential sponsors and exhibitors.
For questions on the program, contact Angela K. Shen at angela.k.shen@gmail.com.
For questions on logistics, contact Cassandra O'Neill at cassandraoneill@me.com.
Register and reserve your hotel room.
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“Safety of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Children”: watch the 3-minute answer, part of the Ask the Experts Video Series on Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), YouTube, and Instagram Immunize.org's social media channels make it easy for you to learn a little more every day. This week, our featured episode from the Ask the Experts Video Series is Safety of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Children. This is available on our YouTube channel, along with our full collection of quick video answers to popular Ask the Experts questions.
Like, follow, and share Immunize.org’s social media accounts and encourage colleagues and others interested in vaccination to do likewise:
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Immunize.org’s Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll recognizes 580 institutions, including four renewing honorees
Immunize.org is pleased to renew four institutions’ Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll status, retaining their standing among 580 honorees. The birthing institutions are listed below with their reported hepatitis B birth dose coverage rates in parentheses.
- Jefferson Einstein Hospital, East Norriton, PA (90%) (2 years)
- CarolinaEast Medical Center, New Bern, NC (93%) (6 years)
- ChristianaCare, Newark, DE (93%) (7 years)
- Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX (92%) (7 years)
The Honor Roll includes 580 birthing institutions from 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, and our U.S. military base in England.
The Honor Roll is a key part of Immunize.org’s initiative urging the nation’s hospitals to Give Birth to the End of Hep B. Hospitals and birthing centers are recognized for attaining high coverage for hepatitis B vaccine at birth and meeting additional criteria. To learn whether your organization qualifies and to access the application form, please see Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll online.
Honorees receive an 8.5" x 11" color certificate suitable for printing and framing. And their acceptance is announced through Immunize.org’s social media channels and to IZ Express’s 55,000+ readers.
Please visit the Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll web page that lists these institutions and celebrates their vigorous efforts to protect infants from perinatal hepatitis B transmission.
Related Immunize.org Resources
Spotlight: Immunize.org resources focused on the history of vaccines 
In this week’s Spotlight, we summarize resources at Immunize.org that focus on the history of vaccines.
Vaccine Timeline main page lists historic dates and events related to vaccines and immunization. From Edward Jenner’s first smallpox vaccination in 1796 to COVID-19 vaccines, this chart highlights scientific discoveries and technologies that led to rapid advances in virology, molecular biology, and vaccinology.
Immunize.org YouTube channel contains historical public service announcements encouraging vaccination. Compiled by vaccine expert Capt. William L. Atkinson, MD, MPH, USPHS (retired), this collection spans more than 50 years.
History through Film main page highlights Protecting Health: Saving Lives, the documentary that covers the history of the Immunization Action Coalition (now Immunize.org) from 1990 to 2020. Hosted by Sam Waterston, the 30-minute film was produced by Visionaries, Inc. for broadcast on more than 100 local PBS stations nationwide.
Publications Archive links to past issues of Immunize.org publications, describing the contemporary vaccine-practice issues of the time: Needle Tips, Vaccinate Adults!, Vaccinate Women, and IZ Express (formerly IAC Express).
These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.
Immunize.org Pages and Handouts
Immunize.org posts five updated 2023–2024 influenza season clinical resources Immunize.org reviewed, updated, and posted five of its influenza-related clinical resources for the 2023–2024 season. The revised materials and any additional edits are listed below.
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Immunize.org updates its resource for the public: “Varicella (Chickenpox): Questions and Answers”
Immunize.org recently updated its resource for the public: Varicella (Chickenpox): Questions and Answers. The document now includes current epidemiologic information and a QR code linking users to the PDF of the current document.
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Immunize.org updates its “Ask the Experts” web page on travel vaccines Immunize.org's popular Ask the Experts: Travel Vaccines web page was updated with a thorough review. Information was added about the temporary unavailability of FDA-licensed cholera vaccine in the United States and the fact that a multiyear yellow fever vaccine shortage has fully resolved. Basic questions and answers were added about the newly recommended vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE, Ticovac, Pfizer).
Immunize.org’s Ask the Experts main page leads you to 30 web pages on various topics with more than 1,200 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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Recap: Immunize.org updated these clinic resources in July and August IZ Express regularly summarizes Immunize.org’s new and updated educational materials and web pages. All Immunize.org materials are free to distribute. In recent weeks, Immunize.org updated or created new helpful materials:
Immunize.org Materials for Clinicians
- Brand New Resources
- Influenza
- Other Screening Checklists
- Standing Orders for Administering:
- Other Vaccine Administration Resources
- Hepatitis B Vaccination and Testing
Immunize.org Printable Materials for Patients
Immunize.org Web Pages
Related Links
- Immunize.org: Handouts main page to see educational materials sorted by category
- Immunize.org: Ask the Experts main page to access more than 1,200 questions answered by Immunize.org experts
- Immunize.org: Clinic Tools main page and its nine subtopics
- Immunize.org: Educational Materials for Patients and Staff—an alphabetical list of more than 240 ready-to-print staff educational materials and patient handouts
Vaccine Information Statements
Recap: Vaccine Information Statements and translations released in July and August
IZ Express regularly provides readers with information about new and updated Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) and their translations.
On July 24, CDC released an updated interim VIS for Pediatric Multi-vaccines (Your Child's First Vaccines) and a new VIS for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccine for adults.
As a result of these VIS releases, two handouts related to VISs were updated:
On May 12, CDC released interim VISs for Hepatitis B Vaccine and Pneumococcal Conjugate (PCV) Vaccine, and Immunize.org provided eight translations for each.
Hepatitis B Vaccine (view in English):
Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (view in English):
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Featured Resources
CHOP’s PolicyLab and Vaccine Education Center release report on increasing vaccination rates on college campuses The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's (CHOP) Vaccine Education Center (VEC), along with CHOP's PolicyLab, issued an Evidence to Action Brief Higher Education Student Vaccination Policies: How Administrators Can Encourage Vaccine Uptake. The brief lists recommendations for college and university health administrators to strengthen vaccine uptake among students.
Download the PDF (24 pages).
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Listen to the newest episode of Unity’s FACTSinnated podcast on the FDA’s role in increasing vaccine confidence with Dr. Peter Marks
The Unity Consortium’s podcast, FACTSinnated, is centered around “myth-busting” commonly held misconceptions surrounding vaccines—particularly adolescent and young adult vaccines. Unity’s most recent episode, Considering FDA’s Role in Increasing Vaccine Confidence amongst Parents, Adolescents, and Young Adults, features Peter Marks, MD, PhD, Director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). During the podcast, Dr. Marks discusses how the FDA is keeping adolescents and young adults in mind as they continue to tackle vaccine development.
Visit the FACTSinnated web page for more podcast episodes.
Explore the www.Give2MenACWY.org website to increase coverage for the MenACWY booster and other adolescent vaccinations Immunize.org's www.Give2MenACWY.org website promotes the importance of adolescent vaccination, including the recommended MenACWY vaccine booster dose at age 16. Many teens are behind on vaccines because of the pandemic, so vaccine outreach is more important than ever.
Materials on this colorful website for healthcare professionals incorporate the 2020 ACIP meningococcal vaccine recommendations and coverage statistics from CDC’s National Immunization Survey–Teen (NIS–Teen). One particularly popular resource on the site is the update Algorithm for MenACWY Immunization in Adolescents 11 through 18 Years of Age.
The website is divided into five easy-to-access sections:
The site also categorizes materials according to whether they are primarily of interest to providers, to adolescents, or to parents.
Visit Give2MenACWY.org and enjoy browsing (and deploying) its bountiful resources.
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Notable Publications
“‘They’ve All Endorsed It . . . but I’m Just Not There:’ A Qualitative Exploration of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Reported by Black and Latinx Individuals” published in BMJ OpenIn the July 20 issue, BMJ Open published ‘They’ve All Endorsed It . . . but I’m Just Not There:’ A Qualitative Exploration of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Reported by Black and Latinx Individuals. A portion of the abstract appears below.
We sought to examine reasons for vaccine hesitancy among online communities of US-based Black and Latinx communities to understand the role of historical racism, present-day structural racism, medical mistrust and individual concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy. . . .
Bulletin board discussions covered a range of topics related to COVID-19 vaccination. COVID-19 vaccine hesitant participants expressed fears about vaccine safety and doubts about vaccine efficacy. Elements of structural racism were cited in both groups as affecting populations but not playing a role in individual vaccine decisions. . . .
While this suggests that addressing individually focused fear and doubts are central to overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Black and Latinx groups, addressing the effects of present-day structural racism through a focus on community protection may also be important.
Upcoming Events
Virtual: Watch the ACIP meeting to discuss updated COVID-19 vaccines for fall 2023, September 12, 10:00 a.m. (ET)
CDC will convene its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), September 12, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (ET). The agenda will focus on recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines that target the XBB variants of SARS-CoV-2.
No registration is required to watch webcasts of live ACIP meetings or listen via telephone. Opportunities for public comment are described on the website.
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