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Top Stories
Immunize.org Website and Clinical Resources
Featured Resources
Notable Publications
Global News
Top Stories
Immunize.org updates two RSV standing orders templates to protect infants: nirsevimab for infants and Abrysvo (RSV vaccine) during pregnancy As you prepare to protect infants from RSV this fall through maternal vaccination (Abrysvo, Pfizer) or infant immunization (Beyfortus, Sanofi), download updated standing orders templates from Immunize.org.
Both documents were edited to clarify that if a pregnant person received RSV vaccination before the current pregnancy, the pregnant person should not receive another dose of RSV vaccine. In this situation, the infant should receive nirsevimab after delivery for RSV protection. Additional edits are as follows:
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Immunize.org continues to expand its repository of VIS translations, all available in print-ready PDF format. Vanderburgh County (Indiana) Health Department generously donated seven Marshallese VIS translations, shown below.
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Changes coming for 2024–25 season: Vaccines.gov will discontinue tracking details of COVID-19 vaccine availability by facility. CDC plans to display locations that offer COVID-19, influenza, and RSV vaccines to public. In anticipation of the fall respiratory virus season, CDC is changing the type of information it will provide on Vaccines.gov and Vacunas.gov (the Spanish language version). Currently, these sites offer general information about preparing for the upcoming respiratory virus season. The announced changes are described below.
August is National Immunization Awareness Month; promote vaccination with CDC’s graphics and messages on your social media and websites August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM). During NIAM, encourage your patients to schedule appointments to ensure they are up to date on annual exams and recommended vaccines. Related Links
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“Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools”: updates expected when 2024–25 formulations become available Immunize.org reviews its Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools at least monthly, prominently indicating when it was last revised at the top of the page. The August 1 version contains no changes from the July version. Immunize.org will update the checklist to reflect 2024–25 formulation guidance when the information is published by CDC. At present, guidance for 2023–2024 remains in effect. All COVID-19 vaccine providers should review this checklist regularly. Download the latest documents and discard any outdated versions. The checklist is posted on Immunize.org's Vaccines A–Z: COVID-19 main page to help practices stay up to date. Related Links
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Immunize.org’s Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll recognizes 585 institutions, including two new honorees
Immunize.org is pleased to welcome two new institutions into its Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll, for a total of 585 honorees. The birthing institutions are listed below with their reported hepatitis B birth dose coverage rates in parentheses.
Please join us in recognizing these honorees with sustained excellence that qualify for an additional year:
The Honor Roll includes 585 birthing institutions from 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, and our U.S. military hospital 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.
“What Is the Difference between a Contraindication and a Precaution?” Watch the 1-minute answer, part of the Ask the Experts Video Series on YouTube. This week, our featured episode from the Ask the Experts Video Series is What Is the Difference between a Contraindication and a Precaution? The video briefly describes conditions for an increased risk of a serious adverse reaction to a vaccine and whether or not a vaccine should be given to a patient due to risk. Like, follow, and share Immunize.org’s social media accounts and encourage colleagues and others interested in vaccination to do likewise.
These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.
Immunize.org Website and Clinical Resources
This week’s Spotlight is on our three honor rolls. Immunize.org recognizes healthcare organizations and colleges/universities that excel in vaccination policy and practice. The Influenza Vaccination Honor Roll recognizes healthcare organizations that require influenza vaccination for employees to protect their patients. Honorees include 1239 healthcare systems, hospitals, medical practices, pharmacies, and others. The Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll recognizes U.S. birthing institutions that achieve a hepatitis B vaccine birth dose coverage rate of 90% or greater. Honorees must also adopt birth dose policies, procedures, and protocols. Currently, there are 585 honorees. The MenB Vaccination Honor Roll recognizes institutions of higher education that adopt policies requiring or recommending MenB vaccination to protect their students and help prevent outbreaks. There are 271 honorees currently listed. Each honor roll landing page lists the requirements for your institution to be included and displays an online application. Relevant links to government vaccination mandates, position statements from leading medical organizations, journal articles, editorials, websites, toolkits, and personal stories from those affected by these vaccine-preventable diseases are provided. You can look for your institution among current honor roll honorees on a single page. Filter honorees by honor roll type, facility type, and by state.
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Recap: Immunize.org's website with data and maps of state immunization requirements and exemption policies for childcare and school updated for 2024 Each year, Immunize.org updates its state policy web pages on:
Our data are reviewed and verified by every state immunization program each year. These resources are valuable for vaccine advocates, public health, clinicians, families, and policymakers.
Immunize.org thanks our partners at state immunization programs who reviewed and updated our data. To ask questions about any of the content on our site, contact us. If you have questions about a specific state’s requirements, please contact that state immunization program directly.
Recap: Standing orders templates for the 2024–25 influenza season now available, along with Immunize.org’s updated reference list of 2024–25 influenza vaccines Immunize.org’s popular standing orders templates for the 2024–25 influenza season are now available on our website. These standing orders templates help you simplify providing influenza vaccine to everyone in your practice, age 6 months and older, whether you are using an injectable influenza vaccine or a live attenuated influenza vaccine. Influenza Vaccine Products for the 2024–2025 Influenza Season, our one-page reference document, is also available. For each vaccine, the manufacturer, trade name, common abbreviation, dosage form, mercury content, age range, CVX code, and product billing (CPT) code are listed.
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Recap: Standing orders template for administering pneumococcal vaccines to adults updated to include PCV21 Immunize.org updated its Standing Orders for Administering Pneumococcal Vaccines to Adults to include PCV21 (Capvaxive, Merck) as an acceptable option for adults recommended to receive PCV, as recommended by ACIP and CDC.
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Recap: Turkish translation now available for Immunize.org’s patient handout, “Immunizations for Babies: A Guide for Parents” Immunize.org posted a Turkish translation of the current version of its popular patient handout, Vaccinations for Babies: A Guide for Parents, generously donated by Betül Polatdemir, MD, and Nur Polatdemir. This new translation joins 15 other translations of this resource to give a family-friendly, simple overview of vaccines needed in the first year of life.
Featured Resources
Planning for the upcoming school year or looking for science projects? The resources below can help children and adolescents explore vaccines and the immune system.
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Quality improvement organizations offer an immunization microsite with billing, payment, and educational resources
The IPRO Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO), a collaboration of three organizations with decades of experience working as Medicare QIOs, posted the “What about Vaccines? Every Time!” WAVE microsite to encourage providers to talk with families about vaccines. It also includes valuable resources for vaccination providers on billing and payment. Back to top
Explore the www.Give2MenACWY.org website to increase coverage for the meningococcal ACWY booster doses 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. 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.
Notable Publications
“The Recombinant Shingles Vaccine Is Associated with Lower Risk of Dementia” published in Nature Medicine
In its July 25 issue, Nature Medicine published The Recombinant Shingles Vaccine Is Associated with Lower Risk of Dementia. The abstract appears below.
Global News
“Progress toward the Elimination of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in the Country of Georgia, April 2015–April 2024” published in MMWR
CDC published Progress toward the Elimination of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in the Country of Georgia, April 2015–April 2024 on August 1 in MMWR. A portion of the summary appears below. As of April 2024, 83% of persons with chronic hepatitis C have received a diagnosis, and 86% of those diagnosed have initiated treatment. Sustained hepatitis B vaccination coverage above 90% has substantially reduced prevalence of infection in children; however, prevalence in adults remains high. . . . Identifying persons with chronic hepatitis C who have never received a diagnosis and linking them to care, and scaling up hepatitis B screening and treatment, would accelerate progress toward hepatitis B and hepatitis C elimination by 2030.
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