IZ Express #1,838: Immunize.org resource updates, World Polio Day, measles update, and more

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Issue 1,838: October 22, 2025

Top Stories

Immunize.org updates eight adult patient handouts with current recommendations for RSV, meningococcal, and COVID-19 vaccines

Immunize.org recently updated its 8-handout suite of 1-page vaccination guides for adults. The suite includes a general adult vaccination handout, in addition to one tailored for men who have sex with men, and six for people with common chronic health conditions. All guides now include current recommendations for all adult vaccines. Changes include:

The adult RSV vaccination recommendation for people at increased risk for serious RSV infection now begins at age 50 years. Routine vaccination of all adults still begins at age 75.
Adults are advised to “talk to your pharmacist or healthcare provider” about COVID-19 vaccination.
The meningococcal section now states “a combination MenABCWY is an option when both MenB and MenACWY vaccines are needed.”

The revised handouts for adults are listed below.

Related Links

Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Adult Vaccination main page
Immunize.org: Clinical Resources A–Z main page, where you can filter by topic, vaccine, language, or other criteria

Immunize.org updates “Need Help Responding to Vaccine-Hesitant Parents?” and “Reliable Sources of Immunization Information: Where Parents Can Go to Find Answers!”

Immunize.org recently updated two resources healthcare professionals can use to direct their patients to reputable information. Resources include:

Need Help Responding to Vaccine-Hesitant Parents? Updates include a focus on nongovernmental resources. New resources include the LetsGetRealAboutVaccines.org website, Vaccine Education Center (VEC) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) short- and long-form videos, and resources in the vaccines-and-autism box. Web links were updated as needed.
Reliable Sources of Immunization Information: Where Parents Can Go to Find Answers! Updates include a focus on nongovernmental websites, adding the new LetsGetRealAboutVaccines.org website and VEC at CHOP short- and long-form videos. Phone and email contact information for CDC is provided, including a note that CDC callers may have questions addressed in English or Spanish and that guidance from CDC and pediatricians may vary.

Related Links

Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Vaccine Confidence main page
Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Parent Handouts main page
Immunize.org: Clinical Resources A–Z main page, where you can filter by topic, vaccine, language, or other criteria

Immunize.org updates “Healthcare Personnel Vaccination Recommendations”

Immunize.org updated Healthcare Personnel Vaccination Recommendations. This now indicates that there are no specific CDC occupational recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination of healthcare personnel.

Related Links

Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Vaccine Recommendations main page
Immunize.org: Clinical Resources A–Z main page, where you can filter by topic, vaccine, language, or other criteria

Immunize.org updates two handouts related to meningococcal vaccination: “Meningococcal ACWY Vaccine Recommendations by Age and Risk Factor" and “You’re 16 . . . We Recommend These Vaccines for You!”

Immunize.org recently updated its 1-page healthcare provider guide to meningococcal ACWY vaccination and its patient handout for 16-year-olds that is codeveloped and co-branded with our partners at the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM).

Meningococcal ACWY Vaccine Recommendations by Age and Risk Factor now includes the pentavalent MenABCWY. A new table displays currently licensed and recommended MenACWY vaccine options (MenQuadfi, Sanofi; Menveo, GSK), including important clinical notes about each. The schedule table for meningococcal vaccination of children and adults more likely to develop invasive meningococcal disease as a result of medical risk or exposure risk was simplified. A note was added indicating that combination MenABCWY vaccines (Penbraya, Pfizer; Penmenvy, GSK) may be an option in recipients age 10 years or older when the recipient needs protection against serogroups A, B, C, W, and Y.

The Immunize.org and SAHM handout You’re 16 . . . We Recommend These Vaccines for You! was updated with the latest recommendations for meningococcal and COVID-19 vaccination. A statement was added that MenABCWY may be used when MenACWY and MenB are needed at the same visit. The section on COVID-19 was revised to state “COVID-19 vaccination may be recommended for you. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist.”

Related Links

Immunize.org: Vaccines A–Z: Meningococcal ACWY main page
Immunize.org: Vaccines A–Z: Meningococcal B main page
Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Vaccine Recommendations main page
Immunize.org: Clinical Resources: Vaccine Confidence main page
Immunize.org: Clinical Resources A–Z main page, where you can filter by topic, vaccine, language, or other criteria

Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association (PALTmed) issues recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination of residents and staff

On October 14, the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association (PALTmed) released a prepublication version of its recommendations for 2025–26 COVID-19 vaccination of residents and staff in post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) facilities. Most residents in PALTC settings are older adults and often have multiple underlying health conditions, increasing their risk for severe COVID-19 illness. Staff members, both clinical and nonclinical, also face a heightened risk of exposure within these environments. Vaccination helps lower the risk of spreading COVID-19 among staff, residents, and visitors.

PALTmed's COVID-19 vaccination recommendations are summarized below:

Residents age 18 and older should receive one dose of 2025–26 COVID-19 vaccine
Residents with moderate to severe immunocompromise should receive two doses of 2025–26 COVID-19 vaccine, with a preferred interval of 6 months between doses
Clinical and nonclinical staff should receive one dose of 2025–26 COVID-19 vaccine
Any age-appropriate COVID-19 vaccine may be used

View their guidance for details. This guidance will be published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.

World Polio Day is October 24; the work continues to end polio for good

World Polio Day, organized by End Polio Now and Rotary International, is observed on October 24. It is a day for everyone who wants a world free from polio to come together, recognize progress in the fight to end polio, and talk about actions needed to end polio for good.

Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease. The virus is spread through the feces of infected people who usually have no symptoms. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances, lead to paralysis. Although there is no cure, there is a safe and effective vaccine—one which Rotary and its partners have used to immunize more than 2.5 billion children worldwide.

To encourage sharing information, the World Polio Day Resources web page links to videos, social media tools, educational materials, posters, and more. Use hashtag #EndPolio when sharing sample posts.

Related Links

End Polio Now and Rotary International: World Polio Day web page
End Polio Now and Rotary International: World Polio Day Resources main page
CDC: Polio Vaccination web page
American Academy of Pediatrics: Polio & Vaccines to Prevent Paralytic Polio web page
Immunize.org: Vaccines A–Z: Polio main page

Measles 2025: 1,596 confirmed cases across 41 states; outbreaks growing in South Carolina and along Utah/Arizona border

As of October 15, CDC reported 1,596 confirmed measles cases in 2025 in 41 states. Of reported confirmed cases, 86% were outbreak-associated. Notable state outbreaks include:

As of October 16, Utah reported 57 confirmed cases this year, including 42 in the southwest part of the state where an outbreak is ongoing. Nearly all documented cases are among the unvaccinated.
On October 16, Arizona reported 77 confirmed cases this year.
On October 17, South Carolina reported 19 confirmed cases with 15 linked to an ongoing outbreak in Spartanburg County. More than 150 unvaccinated children from two schools were quarantined after being exposed to the virus.

CDC only requires reporting of laboratory-confirmed measles cases. Cases without laboratory testing for confirmation are not included in these numbers. Actual numbers of cases are, therefore, higher than confirmed case counts.

A map of 2025 measles cases in the contiguous United States, as of October 17, from the Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center, appears below. The U.S. Measles Tracker website includes state and county-level data.

Canada has experienced 5,060 measles cases in 2025, with 36 cases reported in 4 provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario) in the most recent surveillance week ending October 4.

Immunize.org offers measles-related resources for the public on several of our affiliated websites:

VaccineInformation.org: Measles web page
LetsGetRealAboutVaccines.org: Measles web page
Immunize.org: Vaccines A–Z: Measles main page

Another credible source is the American Academy of Pediatrics web page: Fact Checked: The Measles Vaccine Is Safe and Effective.

Related Links

CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks main page
CDC: Be Ready for Measles Toolkit
Health Canada: Measles and Rubella Weekly Monitoring Report
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Outbreak Response Innovation: Measles Outbreak Response main page
Immunize.org: Vaccines A–Z: Measles main page

Surveillance for respiratory virus activity suspended during federal government shutdown; continue vaccinating

CDC reports on respiratory virus activity are not being updated during the federal government shutdown. We will resume our weekly updates when the surveillance reports are updated.

Meanwhile, keep vaccinating! October is a great time of year to vaccinate against influenza, RSV, and COVID-19.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services corrects claim denials for Medicare Part B COVID-19 vaccines when coadministered with other Part B vaccines; claims will automatically be reprocessed

Some vaccinators have experienced claim denials by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for vaccine administration when both COVID-19 and another Medicare Part B vaccine were administered at the same visit. CMS issued a newsletter dated October 15 stating that this was an error and all of these claims will be reprocessed. Providers are not required to take action. A portion of the newsletter appears below.

Some providers may have 90480 claims denied when billed in conjunction with G0008, G0009, or G0010 as a result of a Procedure to Procedure edit released in the 2025 Quarter 4 National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) files. On October 14, 2025, CMS issued replacement NCCI files to remove this edit. Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will reprocess claims with dates of service between July 1, 2025, and October 15, 2025, within approximately 30 business days, and Medicare providers don’t need to take any action. Alternatively, a provider may also choose to use the MAC appeals process if they don’t wish to wait for the automatic adjustment to occur, or they can wait to submit impacted claims until after CMS implements the change.

Back to top

“Polio Vaccination of Adults.” Watch the 2-minute video, part of the Ask the Experts Video Series on YouTube.

This week, our featured episode from the Ask the Experts Video Series is titled Polio Vaccination of Adults. The video describes the June 2023 ACIP guidance to recommend that all adults in the United States who are unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated against polio complete a 3-dose IPV series, regardless of exposure risk.

The 2-minute video 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.

Facebook at ImmunizeOrg
Instagram at ImmunizeOrg
LinkedIn at ImmunizeOrg
YouTube at ImmunizeOrg

Vaccines in the news

These recent articles convey the potential risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the importance of vaccination.

NPR: U.S. Measles Cases Continue to Climb, with Outbreaks Across the Country (10/15/25)
U.S. News: How States Are Getting Around Vaccine Mandates (10/14/25)
Medpage Today: When It Comes to the Shingles Vaccine, More Is Better (10/13/25)

Immunize.org Website and Clinical Resources

Spotlight on the website: VaccineInformation.org: resources available by age group

VaccineInformation.org is our educational website for the public, offering straightforward information for people of all ages about vaccine-preventable diseases and vaccines to prevent them.

Today, we spotlight the four age groups listed in the dropdown menus at the top of each web page.

Each age group is featured on a main page:

Each of those four tabs links to four subsections:

Vaccines You Need: schedules and other information about the vaccines recommended for that age group, schedule tools, and links to find places to get vaccinated
Resources: handouts from Immunize.org (and available translations), links to content from reputable organizations such as the Vaccine Education Center, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Vaccinate Your Family
Personal Testimonies: real stories from people who experienced vaccine-preventable illness
Videos: videos filtered by age or disease

Share these pages to help families looking for credible information about vaccines.

Featured Resources

Recap: VaccineInformation.org, Immunize.org’s website for the public, launches travel vaccine web pages and new content to help travelers prepare

The VaccineInformation.org website makes it easy for anyone to access current travel vaccination guidance from authoritative sources. The new Travel Vaccine Basics main page, located under the Vaccine Basics tab, curates links to useful travel vaccination resources from CDC and nongovernmental experts, such as Massachusetts General Hospital, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Direct links to popular resources on the CDC Travelers’ Health website and CDC Travel Health Notices make it easy for people to find trustworthy advice.

Below the Key Resources section, a Disease Directory lists vaccine-preventable diseases with travel vaccination considerations. Each of the disease pages listed on the Travel Vaccine Basics main page contains disease-specific travel information. Two new disease pages were added: Chikungunya and Japanese Encephalitis.

Within the Where To Get Vaccinated tab of the Vaccine Basics section, we added a section with links to assist travelers looking for a travel vaccine clinic.

Share our new Travel Vaccine Basics page at VaccineInformation.org and let your patients know they can find trustworthy travel vaccination information at this site. As always, we welcome your feedback.

Notable Publications

“First-Trimester mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination and Risk of Major Congenital Anomalies” published in JAMA Network Open: vaccination did not increase risk

In its October 15 issue, JAMA Network Open published First-Trimester mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination and Risk of Major Congenital Anomalies. This large study found no evidence of any relationship between first-trimester mRNA vaccination for COVID-19 and any of 75 different birth defects. The findings section is below.

In this nationwide cohort study of 527564 live-born infants, 130338 (24.7%) were exposed to an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine during the first trimester of pregnancy. There was no association with an increased risk for 75 different major congenital malformations, whether examined overall, grouped by organ systems, or individually.

“CDC’s Vaccine Safety Monitoring Office Performed Well During COVID-19 Pandemic; Steps Needed to Safeguard Office’s Independence, Improve Communications” published by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

On October 7, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine published CDC’s Vaccine Safety Monitoring Office Performed Well During COVID-19 Pandemic; Steps Needed to Safeguard Office’s Independence, Improve Communications. A portion of the news release about the report appears below.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Immunization Safety Office (ISO) carried out scientifically robust, timely, and effective monitoring and evaluation of vaccine risks throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The office’s proactive identification of emerging vaccine risk concerns informed critical public health decisions.

The report identifies ongoing challenges related to public trust, transparency, and the perception of ISO’s independence, however. The perceived overlap between ISO’s risk monitoring activities and CDC’s broader efforts to encourage vaccine use continues to raise public concerns about the objectivity of risk assessments.

ISO should clearly distinguish its role from CDC’s efforts to encourage vaccination, the report says. CDC should protect ISO’s independence, keeping the office operationally and administratively insulated from units in CDC that carry out promotion or policymaking activities, such as promoting vaccination.

Related Links

National Academies: Review of CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Research and Communications web page
National Academies: Vaccine Risk Monitoring and Evaluation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PDF)

"Beyond the Comment Section: Rebuilding Trust in Vaccines Through Conversation" published as commentary in Applied Clinical Trials

In the October 13 issue, Applied Clinical Trials published a commentary, Beyond the Comment Section: Rebuilding Trust in Vaccines Through Conversation. Portions of the article appear below.

This is where science communication becomes critical. Not to correct people, but to meet them.

Quinn [PhD and vaccine researcher] reflected on lessons from the pandemic: “When I was excited about something, I communicated that excitement. When I was concerned, I communicated concern without fear. . . . There are a lot of lessons about how we can bring more authenticity. Perhaps a little emotion. Not fear, but honesty.”

Catherine Hughes [Immunization Foundation of Australia] agreed: “I don’t think it makes someone an anti-vaxxer to question what we do with our children and our bodies. I think it’s actually very responsible to have questions. . . . What matters is where you go for the answers.”

Upcoming Events

Virtual: Register for Immunize.org Website Office Hours. Join a 30-minute discussion about our new travel vaccines online content on November 12 at 4:00 p.m. (ET) or November 13 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). Recorded sessions archived.

To learn simple tips and tricks for using our websites efficiently, please register for our next set of Website Office Hours on Wednesday, November 12, at 4:00 p.m. (ET) or Thursday, November 13, at 12:00 p.m. (ET). The same content will be covered in both sessions.

We will open each 30-minute session with a short, live demonstration on navigating our Travel Vaccines website sections on Immunize.org and VaccineInformation.org. You can submit questions when you register or live on Zoom during the session.

The archive of previous Website Office Hours content is posted at Immunize.org’s "Webinars & Videos" page.

Mark your calendar for future Immunize.org Website Office Hours.

For more upcoming events, visit our Calendar of Events.

Editorial Information

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

Managing Editor

John D. Gräbenstein, RPh, PhD

Associate Editor

Sharon G. Humiston, MD, MPH

Writer/Publication Coordinator

Taryn Chapman, MS
Courtnay Londo, MA

Style and Copy Editor

Marian Deegan, JD

Web Edition Managers

Arkady Shakhnovich
Jermaine Royes

Contributing Writer

Laurel H. Wood, MPA

Technical Reviewer

Kayla Ohlde

About IZ Express
Immunize.org welcomes redistribution of this issue of IZ Express or selected articles.
When you do so, please add a note that Immunize.org is the source of the material and provide a link to this issue.

IZ Express is supported in part by Grant No. NH23IP922654 from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC. Its contents are solely the responsibility of Immunize.org and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC.

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ISSN: 2771-8085