Immunization Coalitions Network News

Network News – November 11, 2021

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Webinar/Biennial Meeting

Coalition News, Top Stories, and Events

Other News, Educational Opportunities, and Events

Resources

Coalitions in the News

Announcements

Webinar/Biennial Meeting

Register now! IZ Coalitions Network hosts November 16 webinar on the pediatric roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines with speakers from CDC and the Association of Immunization Managers

The Immunization Action Coalition will host the Immunization Coalitions Network webinar from 1:00–2:00 p.m. (ET) on November 16. During this event, speakers from the CDC and Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) will discuss different aspects of the roll-out of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines in light of the new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation to vaccinate age 5–11. CDC speaker Sara Oliver, MD, MSPH, co-lead of the ACIP COVID-19 vaccine work group, will review the new recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination of age 5–11 children, Elizabeth Ryan, MPH, health communication specialist and Kevin Chatham-Stephens, MD, medical epidemiologist, will provide an overview of CDC’s pediatric vaccine confidence strategy and communication resources, and Claire Hannan, MPH, executive director of AIM, will provide a perspective on the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine roll-out from a programmatic lens. There will be time at the end for questions and answers.

Register for the webinar.

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Coalition News, Top Stories, and Events

Voices for Vaccines launches new website with resources, toolkits, factsheets, FAQs, podcasts, and more!

Voices for Vaccines (VFV), a national organization of parents and others dedicated to raising the level of the voices of immunization supporters, has launched a brand new website. The website offers many new pages and resources that you can use to be successful in your advocacy, including:

  • Vaccine and Vaccine-Preventable Disease Information main page with information about vaccine-preventable diseases and routine childhood and adult vaccines, including COVID-19, and travel and work-related vaccines
  • Science main page for caregivers and families with robust explanations about the science behind vaccines and vaccine safety
  • Resources main page with toolkits and vaccine fact sheets that can be used to use to advocate for vaccines in your community
  • Get Involved main page with information on how to volunteer with VFV
  • Credible Information main page that offers ways to look for credible information on vaccines and explains how VFV is a credible resource for vaccine information

VFV also offers Vax Talk, a podcast for people interested in vaccine news, education, and the impact of immunizations on vaccine-preventable diseases.

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Immunize Kansas Coalition hosts booth at community arts and crafts fair to raise vaccine awareness 

On October 8–9, Immunize Kansas Coalition (IKC) hosted an educational booth at the Pumpkin Patch Arts & Crafts Fair in Manhattan, KS. IKC received funding from Vaccinate Your Family’s (VYF) “A Fair Shot” grant opportunity designed to support vaccination efforts in rural areas.

Undergraduate students at Kansas State University collaborated with IKC to staff the booth. The IKC booth event was an opportunity for students to have a real-world opportunity to engage with the public to increase awareness about the importance of vaccinations. To prepare students, IKC staff shared resources and provided a training session to build students’ knowledge and confidence to talk with booth visitors and answer their questions.

IKC wants to thank their immunization partners at Vaccinate Your Family, as well as Kansas State Research and Extension (KSRE), Candlewood Health Mart Pharmacy, and the communication studies students at Kansas State University for making the event possible.

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Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families holds a virtual Q&A on COVID-19 vaccines for their faith community

On October 1, Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families held a live question and answer session titled OAHF Faith in Vaccines Q&A. During the session, medical and faith leaders in the community spoke about the importance of vaccines in the faith community and answered participants’ questions about COVID-19 vaccines.

Watch the video of the live session on YouTube.

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Montgomery County Immunization Coalition hosts town halls for parents on COVID-19 vaccines for children age 5–11 in November

Montgomery County Immunization Coalition (MCIC) will be hosting a series of “COVID-19 Vaccines for Children Town Halls for Parents” this November. During the town hall, local healthcare and community leaders will share the latest COVID-19 vaccine information for children age 5–11 and will answer parents’ questions and concerns. Attendees can submit their questions in advance or ask them live during the town hall. Upcoming town halls are listed below:

Related Links

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The Immunization Partnership worked to defeat more than 40 anti-vaccination bills during the third special session of the Texas legislature!

Ending October 19, the Immunization Partnership, with help from many of you, defeated more than 40 anti-vaccination bills across three special sessions of the Texas legislature. The sessions ended without the passage in either chamber of any bill that threatened to weaken the state’s vaccine requirements and undo decades of sound public health policies.

The bills filed during the third special session ranged from preventing employers, including health care systems, from setting their own health and safety vaccination policies, to SB 51, which prohibited schools and universities from setting COVID-19 vaccine school entry requirements.

The Texas governor may call a fourth special session, but it is not known whether bills on vaccines or vaccine requirements will be introduced during this session. In the meantime, the Immunization Partnership will continue to uphold its mission and will ensure legislators and the governor know its position on anti-public health legislation.

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The Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition and Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians launched an ad campaign to educate rural residents on COVID-19 immunization

The Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition (PAIC), the Pennsylvania Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians launched an ad campaign designed to educate rural Pennsylvania residents on COVID-19 vaccination. As the effort to vaccinate Pennsylvanians against COVID-19 developed, it became even more clear that a special effort to reach out to people living in rural counties of Pennsylvania was much needed.

The first rural immunization educational outreach campaign is a series of four different quarter-page, black and white ads with immunization information placed in rural print newspapers, one ad per week over four weeks. The ads address common-sense questions in a respectful, inclusive, non-lecturing manner. The common headline for all four ads is “Learn More About COVID-19.”

The ads have now been featured in 38 different newspapers, and the campaign succeeded in reaching all 48 rural Pennsylvania counties, 52 counties in total. The project reached an estimated 2 million people in rural areas.

 Related Links

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Other News, Educational Opportunities, and Events

Tennessee Department of Health hosts “2021 Tennessee ‘Virtual’ Immunization Summit” on November 17, CE available

Tennessee Department of Health will host its second annual 2021 Tennessee ‘Virtual’ Immunization Summit from 8:15 a.m.–3:30 p.m. (CT) on November 17. This free educational event is for immunization champions and healthcare personnel who play a significant role in the immunization activities at their practice. In addition to a great panel of speakers, there will be relevant exhibitors in the virtual exhibit hall to provide quality education, product, and service information.

AAFP CE is available upon completion of the event.

Register for the event.

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American College Health Association announces second round of CoVAC initiative mini-grants with applications due November 17

The Campus COVID-19 Vaccination and Mitigation Initiative (CoVAC) announced the second round of CoVAC Initiative Mini-Grants for activities in spring 2022. The funds will help address challenges presented by the pandemic and in support of healthy and thriving campus communities, including students, staff, and faculty. Funds may be used to augment existing or new COVID- 19 vaccination and mitigation strategies. Successful applicants will:

  • Receive a mini-grant of $3,000 for use in the spring of 2022 to implement or maintain effective, equitable, inclusive, and layered prevention strategies and reduce COVID-19 transmission on college campuses and in their surrounding communities
  • Join a learning community of institutions of higher education and college health professionals, sharing experiences, knowledge, challenges, and successes in addressing COVID-19

Applications are due by November 17 at 8:00 p.m. (ET).

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Vaccine Education Center’s Current Issues in Vaccines webinar on December 8 features Dr. Paul Offit discussing COVID-19 vaccine booster doses; CE available

The Vaccine Education Center (VEC) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will present a 1-hour webinar titled Do We Need a COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose? beginning at 12:00 p.m. (ET) on December 8. Part of its Current Issues in Vaccines series, the webinar will feature Paul Offit, MD, director of the VEC.

Free continuing-education credits (CME, CEU, and CPE) will be available for both the live and archived events.

Register for the webinar.

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Resources

IAC offers FREE “I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine” and red “FLU VACCINE” buttons and stickers. Available in English and Spanish.

As COVID-19 vaccination programs prepare to vaccinate children age 5 through 11 years and to offer booster doses to more adults, now is the time to stock up on IAC’s FREE “I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine” buttons and stickers, provided at no cost for product or shipping thanks to support from CDC. Available in English and Spanish, these buttons and stickers are perfect for people of all ages who want to show their confidence in COVID-19 vaccination.

Access this order form now to request buttons and stickers to wear and to share. These Minnesota-made buttons and stickers are available only through December 25, 2021.

Click the picture to place your order now:

Flu season is also underway. IAC is producing a limited supply of our popular “FLU VACCINE” buttons and stickers, available to immunization coalitions and other vaccination champions at no charge for product or shipping, thanks to funding from Seqirus. We are proud to offer them this year in Spanish as well as English.

These free buttons and stickers are not available on our website. Click here now to go directly to the order form.

Order your free supplies now! Once available supplies are reserved, we will not be making more this season.

Click the picture to place your order now:

“FLU VACCINE” BUTTONS

The buttons measure 1.25″ across and are delivered in bags of 10 buttons per bag.

“FLU VACCINE” STICKERS

Measuring 1.5″ across, these stickers adhere well to clothing and have an easy-peel-off backing.

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CDC releases digital media toolkit with campaign materials for the 2021–22 flu season 

CDC released an influenza digital media kit for the 2021–22 flu season with campaign materials to assist partners in communicating about the importance of vaccination. The toolkit includes details on events and activities, sample social media and newsletter content, graphics, web assets, and media prep material. All of the materials are downloadable, shareable, and some of the materials are customizable.

Related Link

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New resources on school-located vaccination clinics are available from the Association of Immunization Managers and partners!

Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) and Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy offer three new resources based on insights and strategies learned in a virtual symposium for schools COVID-19 vaccination:

AIM and the National Association of School Nurses published two companion tools on school-located vaccination clinics:

All of these resources and more are housed under a new SLV Toolkit on the AIM website.

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Unity Consortium offers “Don’t Wait. Vaccinate.” resources updated for COVID-19 vaccine availability for adolescents of all ages

Unity Consortium’s Don’t Wait. Vaccinate campaign offers resources to help address the need for adolescents to catch up and stay up to date on vaccinations. The key message is to not wait to vaccinate because eligible children can get the COVID-19 vaccine and routine vaccines at the same time.

Visit the Don’t Wait. Vaccinate. Partner Toolkit Website to access tools you can use to help spread the message. Updated resources reflect the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for all adolescent age groups. These include outreach resources for healthcare personnel, posters, infographics, social media posts, and a fact sheet summarizing the Unity Consortium’s multi-wave survey of parents and adolescents.

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Updates from Vaccinate Your Family

Vaccinate Your Family (VYF) has been busy in its efforts to support vaccinations! VYF has the following updates and new resources to share with coalition members and partners:

   

  • VYF’s 2021–2022 flu season web pages in English and Spanish, which include flu FAQs
  • VYF’s Spanish web pages with click-through topics featured on the main navigation page including flu vaccination FAQs, COVID-19 vaccination, COVID-19 vaccine finder, vaccine questions (e.g., ingredients, safety), and general information on vaccine-preventable diseases
  • VYF’s COVID-19 Social Media Toolkit with graphics available to share on social media

For more resources you can use in your advocacy efforts visit VYF’s Vaccine Resources main page.

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CDC launches “Let’s Play Catch Up” resources to encourage routine childhood vaccinations

CDC launched the Let’s Play Catch Up campaign to help vaccination partners and healthcare providers communicate to parents the importance of staying on track with routine childhood vaccinations. As children catch up on school routines and playdates with friends, it’s more important than ever that they catch up on their routine vaccinations. Campaign materials include:

  • Social media content with messages and images to reach parents
  • Downloadable infographic titled Catch Up on Checkups and Routine Vaccines
  • Newsletter template with suggested language to use in emails or digital communications with parents

Related Links

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National Foundation for Infectious Diseases launches toolkit with social media graphics and sample posts on flu and pneumococcal prevention

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) launched a toolkit with social media graphics, videos, and sample posts that you can use in your efforts to advocate for flu and pneumococcal vaccines. The toolkit followed the 2021 NFID Influenza/Pneumococcal Disease News Conference on October 7, led by the NFID in conjunction with the CDC. This served as an official kick-off to flu season and as an opportunity to share critical public health messages on why it’s more important than ever to get vaccinated against the flu, pneumococcal, and other diseases. NFID will continue to share resources throughout flu season.

This Dropbox folder contains partner assets that can be shared widely.

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VYF’s Shot of Prevention releases new blog posts on children’s COVID-19 vaccines, flu season, COVID-19 boosters, and vaccines for teens and preteens

Vaccinate Your Family (VYF) hosts a blog, Shot of Prevention, where people come to discuss news and views on vaccines. Check out the most recent blog posts on Shot of Prevention:

Subscribe to Shot of Prevention to get the latest blog posts delivered to your inbox.

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Coalitions in the News

These recent articles feature coalition activities and other stories of interest to coalitions

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Announcements

Visit IAC’s IZ Coalitions Network calendar of events for immunization coalitions!

The Immunizations Coalitions Network maintains a Calendar of Events on its website, immunizationcoalitions.org. This is an easy way to find out about upcoming national, regional, state, and local conferences, workshops, and virtual educational opportunities.

If you have a vaccination-related event that you would like your colleagues to know about via this Calendar of Events, email info@immunizationcoalitions.org.

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Stay up to date by subscribing to IAC Express, encourage your coalition’s members to subscribe to IAC’s IZ Coalitions Network News, and please make sure your coalition’s information is up to date on immunizationcoalitions.org, the website of the National Network of Immunization Coalitions

Be sure you’re subscribed to IAC Express!
IAC Express is the free weekly e-newsletter produced by the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC). IAC Express keeps you informed about new and updated vaccine recommendations from CDC and new vaccine licensures by the FDA. You’ll read about newly posted Vaccine Information Statements and their translations, and new immunization education materials from IAC, CDC, AAP, and others. It also provides updates on online and in-person educational opportunities, many offering free continuing education credit. To subscribe, simply provide your name and email address at www.immunize.org/subscribe. We will never share your contact information.

Urge your coalition members to sign up for IZ Coalitions Network News!
IZ Coalitions Network News is a monthly e-newsletter for the National Network of Immunization Coalitions that features news of interest to immunization coalitions and nonprofit organizations, including advocacy opportunities, legislative efforts, immunization resources, educational offerings, and local, state, and national conference information. IZ Coalitions Network News is available to coalition members and nonprofit staff, and all people who work with immunization coalitions. To subscribe, send a request to info@immunizationcoalitions.org asking to be included. The National Network of Immunization Coalitions is a project of the Immunization Action Coalition.

Make sure your coalition is listed and your information is up to date on immunizationcoalitions.org
The National Network for Immunization Coalitions website at www.immunizationcoalitions.org is a place to learn about immunization coalitions and nonprofit organizations, their locations, missions, activities, newsletters, and how to engage with them. The website promotes the activities of immunization coalitions and nonprofits, offers resources of importance to the network, and provides a searchable online database of local, state, regional, and national immunization coalitions. Interested supporters of immunization can find contacts, resources, ideas, and volunteer opportunities. There are now 139 immunization coalitions and nonprofits listed on this website; view their pages here. If your coalition is not listed, or your information needs to be updated, please email info@immunizationcoalitions.org.

New coalitions and nonprofits are encouraged to include their information on the National Network for Immunization Coalitions website. Updated information can be added at any time by emailing info@immunizationcoalitions.org.

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Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH
Editor-in-Chief

Litjen (L.J) Tan, MS, PhD
Chief Policy and Partnerships Officer

Lisa Jacques-Carroll, MA
Coalitions Network Project Manager

Taryn Chapman, MS
Contributing Editor

Marian Deegan, JD
Contributing Editor

Julie R. Murphy, MA
Senior Administrator for Grants and Leadership

Robin VanOss
Technical Reviewer

 

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to increase immunization rates and prevent disease by creating and distributing educational materials for health professionals and the public that enhance the delivery of safe and effective immunization services. The Coalition also facilitates communication about the safety, efficacy, and use of vaccines within the broad immunization community of patients, parents, health care organizations, and government health agencies. Click here for more information on IAC.