Immunization Action Coalition Awarded $1.5 Million Grant from CDC
Saint Paul, Minnesota, August 31, 2016—The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), the nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated solely to immunization, and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are entering into a cooperative agreement providing $1.5 million to IAC over a five-year term. This latest award continues the close working relationship between CDC and IAC which began in 1995 and is an expression of confidence in IAC’s renowned leadership team of Deborah L. Wexler, MD (Executive Director), L.J Tan, MS, PhD (Chief Strategy Officer), and William L. Atkinson, MD, MPH (Associate Director for Immunization Education) as well as in IAC’s unparalleled staff of immunization experts.
The grant is part of NCIRD’s efforts aimed at supporting external sources of scientific, accurate, and credible immunization information that healthcare providers can use to communicate with parents and the public about the value, effectiveness, and safety of vaccines.
Specifically, the activities undertaken in this project will increase coverage of recommended vaccines by providing the nation’s healthcare professionals with effective immunization educational materials, expert answers to technical vaccination questions, timely and continual email information including information about urgent events, and easy access to a wide range of translations of Vaccine Information Statements (VISs), the federally required information sheets explaining the risks and benefits of a vaccine.
“IAC is proud of our long partnership with CDC and excited about pursuing the activities funded under this award that will significantly improve the immunization information available to patients, parents, and healthcare professionals,” said IAC’s executive director, Deborah Wexler, MD.
About the Immunization Action Coalition IAC’s free and copyright-free immunization educational tools have a strong impact on the education, attitudes, and practices of healthcare professionals throughout the nation, making IAC one of the most respected and relied-upon immunization organizations in the United States. IAC is also a direct source of free immunization information for the public. IAC’s two major websites receive more than 30,000 visits per day, and its email news service broadcasts weekly immunization updates to more than 50,000 opt-in subscribers. More than 6.3 million ready-to-copy documents were downloaded by visitors during 2015. The new cooperative agreement sustains IAC as a keystone of U.S. immunization information. For more information, visit www.immunize.org.