December 9, 2021

Network News – December 9, 2021

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Webinar/Biennial Meeting

Hold the Date! 2022 National Conference for Immunization Coalitions and Partnerships to be held September 13–15, 2022 in Minneapolis, MN

Immunize.org (IAC) and Voices for Vaccines are co-sponsoring the 2022 National Conference for Immunization Coalitions and Partnerships, which is being planned as an in-person meeting in Minneapolis/St. Paul September 13–15, 2022. Please hold the date!

Coalition News, Top Stories, and Events

Today! Virtual: IAC webinar December 9 at 1:00 p.m. (ET): “Fight the Flu and COVID-19 Too: Influenza Vaccination in December and beyond and Practical Approaches to Coadministration of Vaccines in Adults”

In recognition of National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW), Immunize.org (IAC) will hold an interactive webinar titled Fight the Flu and COVID-19 Too: Influenza Vaccination in December and beyond and Practical Approaches to Coadministration of Vaccines in Adults today, Thursday, December 9, from 1:00–2:00 p.m. (ET). Expert speakers include JoEllen Wolicki, BSN, RN, and Suchita Patel, DO, MPH, from CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and Dr. Jason Goldman, ACIP liaison representative of the American College of Physicians. The webinar will be archived on Immunize.org’s website shortly following the live event.

Voices for Vaccines releases podcast on social media and misinformation with Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights’ David Burghart

Voices for Vaccines (VFV) has posted a new entry in its Vax Talk podcast series: Social Media and Misinformation featuring Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights’ David Burghart. A description from the VFV web page appears below.

It’s not shocking that social media spreads misinformation, but a new report from the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights just published a chilling report detailing how fertile social media platforms are for breeding vaccine misinformation. The problem is larger and more deeply entrenched than you might think, and the consequences are more alarming than many realize.

Voices for Vaccines is a national organization of parents and others dedicated to raising the level of the voices of immunization supporters. VFV invites everyone who values vaccines to become a member, use VFV tools in their own community, and get involved with VFV. Please follow Voices for Vaccines on Facebook and spread the word to your friends and colleagues to join!

Related Links

Voices for Vaccines Tools main page
Voices for Vaccines podcast page

Immunize Kansas Coalition offers series of three online education modules designed for high school students on vaccines and vaccine misinformation

Immunize Kansas Coalition (IKC) offers a youth module vaccine series for high school students that contains three modules:

Vaccinating Adolescents teaches students about the four vaccines recommended for adolescents
Vaccines for Infants teaches students about nine diseases and the vaccines given to help protect infants from vaccine-preventable disease
Identifying Vaccine Misinformation teaches students how to navigate through websites and media reports to identify misinformation and base health decisions on accurate and reliable information

Each module takes 20–30 minutes to complete. Visit the IKC Education Modules main page for all available training modules.

Montgomery County Immunization Coalition launches Vaccine Conversation Video Series to provide the community with credible information about COVID-19 vaccines, and releases “COVID-19 Vaccine Facts for Your Child” flyers in multiple languages

Montgomery County Immunization Coalition (MCIC), Montgomery County Office of Public Health, and TriCounty Health Council have launched a Vaccine Conversation Video Series, a new campaign to provide the community with credible information about COVID-19 vaccines. In the series, local healthcare leaders dispel misinformation and provide accessible facts in videos that deliver accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines. More videos will be added to the video library as new questions arise and information becomes available.

In addition, MCIC has collaborated with their partner organizations to create COVID-19 Vaccine Facts for Your Child flyers to help educate and reach out to parents of children age 5–11. The flyer includes facts based on the DeBeaumont Foundation’s research on the best messages for parents and is available in five languages:

More language translations will be available soon.

Related Link

MCIC YouTube: COVID-19 Vaccine Town Halls

Today! Families Fighting Flu hosts webinar with Boost Oregon about best practices for communicating about COVID-19 and flu vaccines on December 9

Families Fighting Flu and Boost Oregon will host a webinar titled Helping Parents Make Fact-Based Decisions about the Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine and the Flu Vaccine from 10:00–11:00 a.m. (PT) today, December 9. During this webinar, the results of the second phase of the Families Fighting Flu vaccine messaging study conducted in partnership with Boost Oregon and Lillian Labs/Dialsmith will be presented. Learn what the barriers are for parents who are hesitant or resistant to getting their children vaccinated, and what types of messages can help address and overcome those barriers. Also learn evidence-based practices to motivate people to fight flu and get vaccinated.

Registration information

Today! The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition host a Let’s Talk webinar titled “Strategies to Improve Maternal COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake While Pregnant and Breastfeeding” on December 9; CE available

The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition will host a webinar in their Let’s Talk series titled Strategies to Improve Maternal COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake While Pregnant and Breastfeeding at 12:00 p.m. (ET) on December 9. This joint webinar offers a discussion on the safety and importance of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant and/or while breastfeeding. Topics that will be presented include:

Data on current pregnancy and post-pregnancy COVID-19 vaccine uptake
Information on placental antibody transfer among vaccinated pregnant individuals
Safety data on COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant people
A personal story of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant
Information on the transfer of protective antibodies from mother to child during breastfeeding, following COVID-19 vaccination
Strategies to improve and encourage vaccine uptake as a vaccine champion communicating with community members pre- and post-birth

CME/CMU credits will be offered for this event through Pennsylvania State University.

Tomorrow! Immunize South Dakota holds quarterly education session on December 10 to keep healthcare professionals and community advocates up-to-date on immunizations

Immunize South Dakota will hold its quarterly education session from 12:30–1:30 p.m. (CT) on December 10. These educational sessions help keep healthcare professionals and community advocates informed and educated on up-to-date topics regarding immunization news, vaccine schedules, and legislation topics. The topic for this session will be developing skills and strategies for advocating and testifying during legislative sessions.

Other News, Educational Opportunities, and Events

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National Foundation for Infectious Diseases hosts 2021 NFID Awards Gala & Silent Auction on December 13

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) will host its 2021 NFID Awards Gala & Silent Auction live event from 6:00–7:00 p.m. (ET) on December 13. The gala and silent auction is the premier annual fundraising event for NFID, and celebrates the work of inspirational public health heroes. This year’s awardees are Anita Zaidi, MBBS, SM, William Petri, Jr, MD, PhD, and Walter Orenstein, MD. Following the awards program, NFID will host a VIP special event with the 2021 awardees.

There is a fee to participate in the event.

Purchase tickets for the live event.

Resources

**U.S. Surgeon General releases Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation to help teachers, health officials, faith leaders, and others identify and stop the spread of misinformation**

On November 9, the U.S. Surgeon General released a Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation (PDF) to help Americans navigate the serious threat of health misinformation. Portions of the press release announcing the toolkit appear below.

“With the authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for children 5 to 11 years old, it is more important than ever that families have access to accurate, science-based information. Health misinformation is spreading fast and far online and throughout our communities,” said Dr. Vivek Murthy. “The good news is that we all have the power to help stop the spread of health misinformation during this pandemic and beyond….”

The Surgeon General’s Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation provides specific guidance to individuals, health care professionals and administrators, teachers, school administrators, librarians, and faith leaders to understand, identify, and stop the spread of health misinformation in their communities. The toolkit comes at a critical time when Americans are learning more about the role technology companies play in the spread of health misinformation.

Related Links

HHS: Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation
HHS Press Release: As Vaccinations Are Approved for Children across the Country, U.S. Surgeon General Releases New Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation (11/9/21)
HHS: Health Misinformation Reports and Publications web page

The Public Health Communications Collaborative has updated its “Answers to Tough Questions about Public Health: Vaccine Booster Doses” and toolkit to help answer questions about booster dose eligibility

The Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC) updated its COVID-19 Booster Dose Messaging and Outreach Tools and Answers to Tough Questions about Public Health: Vaccine Booster Doses section on its website to reflect CDC’s updated booster dose recommendation to expand eligibility to all adults age 18 and older.

PHCC provides messaging guidance that helps answer questions such as: “If we need a booster dose, does that mean that the vaccines aren’t working?” and “Can I mix-and-match my COVID-19 vaccine and booster?” Visit PHCC’s toolkit to download and share social graphics to support your local vaccination outreach:

The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum launches crowdsourcing project to collect Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander in-language COVID-19 resources resources

The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) has launched a crowdsourcing project to collect Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander language COVID-19 resources. All of the available resources will be organized in a collection of resources in Google documents. If you have a resource to share, please fill out the submission form. Resources will be compiled on a rolling basis.

Resolve to Save Lives creates “Voices of Long COVID” campaign to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake

On November 16, Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL), an initiative of the global public health organization Vital Strategies, launched its Voices of Long COVID campaign to increase public awareness of long COVID and promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake among unvaccinated communities. The campaign features testimonials from individuals 18–29 years old who are experiencing persistent health problems from COVID-19.

The campaign offers royalty-free media assets that you can customize and promote, including ads for television and radio, as well as social media and digital banners and graphics. Visit Help Promote the Voices of Long COVID web page to view available materials.

Related Links

Voices of Long COVID website
Prevent Epidemics: Help Promote the Voices of Long COVID web page

**VYF’s Shot of Prevention releases new blog posts on winter wellness, COVID-19 vaccination for kids, boosters, and vaccine trials for kids**

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:

Your Winter Wellness Routine Needs This One Important Thing (12/2/21)
I’m a Doctor and Mom of Two. Here’s Why I Vaccinated My Young Kids against COVID. (11/23/21)
COVID Vaccine Boosters: What You Need to Know (11/22/21)
My 6-Year-Old Is in a COVID Vaccine Trial—Here’s Our Experience (11/19/21)

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

Coalitions in the News

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

The Herald Republican: MSD to Offer Flu Shot Clinic (11/30/21)
The Bulletin: Oregon Aims to Boost Vaccine Rates by Paying Pharmacies $35 per Dose (11/27/21)
WVPE: Demand for Workplace Vaccinations Spiked, Then Froze as Federal Rule Hangs in Legal Limbo (11/25/21)
Medscape: Flu/Shingles Shot Combo May Hurt Future Flu Vaccine Uptake (11/22/21)
NPR: Should Schools Require the COVID Vaccine? Many Experts Say It’s Too Soon (11/19/21)
Idaho News 6: Local Coalition Discusses Efforts to Connect COVID-19 Vaccine Info and Access for Hispanic Community (11/17/21)
The Mercury: Virtual Town Halls Set by Montgomery County for Child COVID Vaccine Offerings (11/9/21)
Kelo: 200 North and South Dakota Pediatricians Urge Parents to Vaccinate Their Children against COVID-19 (11/9/21)
KFF: COVID-19 Misinformation Is Ubiquitous: 78% of the Public Believes or Is Unsure about at Least One False Statement, and Nearly a Third Believe at Least Four of Eight False Statements Tested (11/8/21)

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.

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.

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.