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CDC published Effectiveness of Maternal Vaccination with mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine during Pregnancy against COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization in Infants Aged <6 Months—17 States, July 2021–January 2022 in the February 18 issue of MMWR. A portion of the summary appears below.

Completion of a 2-dose mRNA COVID-19 vaccination series during pregnancy might help prevent COVID-19 hospitalization among infants aged <6 months.

Access the MMWR article in HTML or  PDF.

Related Link

• MMWR's main page provides access to MMWR Weekly and its companion publications

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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has released two new videos encouraging COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.

The first video encourages all people who are pregnant, thinking about becoming pregnant, and lactating to get vaccinated against COVID-19. This public service announcement (PSA) is designed for multiple platforms including TV, radio, social media, and websites. 

The second video supports clinicians and partners in counseling their patients to get vaccinated against COVID-19.  This PSA is designed to be shared on clinician websites and via social media. 

Related Link

• ACOG: Resources for You: Vaccines web page

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Influenza Surveillance
For week 6, ending on February 12, CDC's Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report, FluView summary reports sporadic influenza activity continues across the country. The percentage of outpatient visits due to respiratory illness has decreased nationally and is below baseline. CDC estimates that so far this season there have been at least 2.2 million flu illnesses, 22,000 hospitalizations, and 1,300 deaths from flu.

Influenza Vaccination Dashboard
CDC's new Weekly Flu Vaccination Dashboard shares preliminary vaccination data. This week’s key fact: flu vaccination coverage is 2.8 percentage points lower for all children this season (as of week ending January 8, 2022) compared with last season (as of week ending January 9, 2021) (50.3% compared to 53.1%).

CDC recommends everyone age 6 months and older get an annual flu vaccine. Influenza and COVID-19 vaccines may be given at the same visit, if needed. COVID-19 vaccination alone provides no protection from influenza or any other respiratory virus. 

Vaccine Finder
If you don’t provide influenza vaccine at your site, please strongly recommend vaccination and refer people to sites that do vaccinate. Use VaccineFinder, a user-friendly website to help people of all ages find influenza, COVID-19, and other vaccines. Participating providers can update their vaccine inventory estimates on VaccineFinder. For questions or more information, contact [email protected].

Related Links

• CDC: Weekly Flu Vaccination Dashboard main page 
• CDC: FluView main page
• CDC: Influenza (Flu) main page
• Immunize​.org: free educational materials and patient handouts related to influenza
• Immunize​.org: Vaccines: Influenza main page
• Immunize​.org: Ask the Experts: Influenza main page
• VaccineFinder website
• Families Fighting Flu: Flu Resources for Healthcare Professionals main page

Immunize​.org is pleased to announce the renewal of five institutions into its Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll, with a total of 545 honorees. The birthing institutions are listed below with their reported hepatitis B birth dose coverage rates in parentheses.

One institution is being recognized for a second year:

• Shannon Medical Center South, San Angelo, TX (95%)

One institution is being recognized for a fifth year:

• Greene County General Hospital, Linton, IN (91%)

One institution is being recognized for a sixth year:

• Olivia Hospital & Clinic, Olivia, MN (91%)

Finally, two institutions are being recognized for a seventh year:

• MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH (90%)
• Shannon Medical Center, San Angelo, TX (98%)

The Honor Roll now includes 545 birthing institutions from 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, and a U.S. military base in England. One hundred twenty-three institutions have qualified for 2 years, 73 institutions have qualified three times, 41 institutions have qualified four times, 25 institutions have qualified five times, 22 institutions have qualified six times, eleven institutions have qualified seven times, two institutions have qualified eight times and one institution has qualified nine times.

The Honor Roll is a key part of Immunize​.org’s major 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 rates for administering hepatitis B vaccine at birth and meeting specific additional criteria. The initiative urges qualifying healthcare organizations to apply for the Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll online.

To be included in the Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll, a birthing institution must have: (1) reported a coverage rate of 90% or greater, over a twelve-month period, for administering hepatitis B vaccine before hospital discharge to all newborns, including those whose parents refuse vaccination, and (2) implemented specific written policies, procedures, and protocols to protect all newborns from hepatitis B virus infection before hospital discharge.

Honorees are also awarded an 8.5" x 11" color certificate suitable for framing and their acceptance is announced to IZ Express’s 53,000+ readers.

Please visit the Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll web page that lists these institutions and their exceptional efforts to protect infants from perinatal hepatitis B transmission.

Related Immunize​.org Resources

• Give Birth to the End of Hep B main page 
• Fact sheet about honor roll: Do You Qualify for the Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll? If So, Apply Today.
• Handout on Immunize​.org’s campaign: Give Birth to the End of Hep B
• Hepatitis B Birth Dose Honor Roll web page

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Immunize​.org's Handouts for Patients and Staff web page leads users to hundreds of free vaccination-related patient handouts and fact sheets for healthcare professionals. All items are ready to print, copy, and distribute widely.

Visit the Handouts for Patients and Staff web page to view more than 230 handouts sorted by:

• Topic 
• Vaccine
• Language

From the main page, you can search on any of the 22 topics. Some of the most popular are:

• Administering Vaccines
• Parent Handouts
• Screening Checklists
• Standing Orders
• Temperature Logs
• Top Handouts

The right-hand side of the web page includes links to some of Immunize​.org's most popular handouts, including:

• Summary of Recommendations for Children and Teens
• Summary of Recommendations for Adults
• Vaccinations for Adults—You’re Never Too Old to Get Immunized
• When Do Children and Teens Need Vaccinations?
• How to Administer Intramuscular and Subcutaneous Vaccine Injections: Administration by the Intramuscular (IM) Route

You can also view an alphabetical listing of Immunize​.org’s more than 230 ready-to-print staff educational materials and patient handouts.

Visit Immunize​.org's Handouts for Patients and Staff web page today!

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

• New York Times: What’s Going On with Vaccines for Kids under 5? (2/16/22)
• PBS News Hour: How Businesses Are Handling Vaccine Rules with No Federal Mandates (2/16/22)
• iNews: A History of the Anti-vax Movement and How It’s Been Tackled through the Ages, from Elvis to COVID Vaccines (2/15/22)
• Washington Post: Chris Crouch Was Anti-vaccine. Now His Pregnant Wife Had COVID, and He Faced a Terrible Choice. (2/14/22)

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Confident recommendations for influenza vaccine from healthcare providers are powerfully persuasive. To assist you in maximizing protection for your patients, Immunize​.org, in collaboration with Seqirus, has updated the 65+ Flu Defense website at www.influenza-defense.org.

A new fact sheet on the site, The Importance of Preventing Influenza during a Pandemic, offers responses to help guide discussions with patients on the increased importance of flu vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Age increases risks associated with COVID-19 infection including hospitalization and death. Preliminary studies suggest coinfection with influenza B and SARS-CoV-2 may elevate the risk of poor outcomes.

This helpful site includes information, tools, and tips for communicating with these adults about the scope and severity of influenza, for example:

• Influenza in Adults 65+: The Facts
• Influenza Vaccination: Questions Patients Age 65 and Older Frequently Ask Their HCP

Check out the updated 65+ Flu Defense website at www.influenza-defense.org to assist your efforts in protecting this vulnerable population.

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Kids love stickers! As COVID-19 vaccination programs vaccinate children age 5 and older and offer booster doses to more people, now is the time to stock up on Immunize​.org’s FREE “I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine” stickers, provided at no cost for product or shipping thanks to support from CDC. Stickers are available in English and Spanish. These stickers are perfect for people of all ages who want to show their confidence in COVID-19 vaccination. 

Click the picture to place your order now:

Immunize​.org also has a limited supply of our popular “Vacuna Contra LA GRIPE” buttons and stickers, available at no charge for product or shipping, thanks to funding from Seqirus. Now more than ever, it is important to step up our efforts to eliminate disparities in influenza vaccination rates. This bright red Spanish button can help. 

Click the picture to place your order now:

For clinics serving Spanish-speaking communities, this is a great opportunity to order an ample supply of La Gripe buttons and stickers as you prepare for the next influenza season.

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Immunize​.org’s elegantly designed “Vaccines Save Lives” pins are meaningful gifts for people who care about vaccination. The pin makes a refined statement in hard black enamel with gold lettering and edges, measuring 1.125" x 0.75".

The pin is a stick-through-post variety with the back end covered by a round rubber cap that holds the pin securely. A gold metal spring-lock clasp is also provided.

Wear these pins on clothing, uniforms, and white coats to show that you value vaccines!

  

Click here for "Vaccines Save Lives" pin pricing and ordering information.

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CDC published Notes from the Field: Outbreak of COVID-19 among a Highly Vaccinated Population aboard a U.S. Navy Ship after a Port Visit—Reykjavik, Iceland, July 2021 on February 18 in MMWR. A portion of the article appears below. 

This outbreak in the enclosed environment of a ship suggests that high vaccination rates, in combination with COVID-19 prevention measures, can substantially reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, despite the high transmissibility of the Delta variant and introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into a congregate setting. Infections among vaccinated persons did occur, which is expected, but symptoms were mild. Vaccination, in coordination with multicomponent prevention strategies, are critical to limiting SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19–related illness.

Access the MMWR article in HTML or PDF.

Related Link

• MMWR's main page provides access to MMWR Weekly and its companion publications

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In the February 16 issue, Scientific Reports published mRNA Vaccine-Induced Antibodies More Effective than Natural Immunity in Neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 and Its High Affinity Variants. A portion of the abstract appears below.

...our data indicates that mRNA vaccination may generate more neutralizing RBD [receptor-binding domain] antibodies than natural immunity. It further suggests a potential need to maintain high RBD antibody levels to control the more infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants.

CDC recently published several articles first distributed as MMWR Early Releases:

• Safety Monitoring of COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Doses among Adults—United States, September 22, 2021–February 6, 2022 (MMWR, February 18, HTML or PDF)
• Waning 2-Dose and 3-Dose Effectiveness of mRNA Vaccines against COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department and Urgent Care Encounters and Hospitalizations among Adults during Periods of Delta and Omicron Variant Predominance—VISION Network, 10 States, August 2021–January 2022 (MMWR, February 18, HTML or PDF)

Related Link

• MMWR main page provides access to MMWR Weekly and its companion publications

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CDC will convene its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) today, February 23, from 10:00 a.m.–3:40 p.m. (ET) and tomorrow, February 24, from 10:00 a.m.–12:25 p.m. (ET). The meeting will include discussion of tick-borne encephalitis, cholera, influenza, measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), and pneumococcal vaccines.

No registration is required to watch webcasts of live ACIP meetings or listen via telephone. Opportunities for public comment are described at the website.

View the agenda.

Related Links

• ACIP main page for access to webcast, agendas
• ACIP Meeting Information for presentation slides, content from previous meetings, and information about future meetings

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