CDC published Use of 15-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine among U.S. Children: Updated Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—United States, 2022 in the September 16 issue of MMWR. PCV15 may be used any time PCV13 is recommended in children younger than 19 years. A portion of the summary appears below.

Currently, the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) are recommended for U.S. children, and the recommendations vary by age group and risk group. . . .

On June 22, 2022, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended use of PCV15 as an option for pneumococcal conjugate vaccination of persons aged <19 years, according to currently recommended PCV13 dosing and schedules. Risk-based recommendations on use of PPSV23 have not changed. . . .

Use of PCV15 as an alternative to PCV13 is expected to further reduce pneumococcal disease incidence in children and adolescents.

Access the  MMWR article in HTML or  PDF.

Related Link

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

Immunize​.org updated its “Vaccines: COVID-19” main page to connect you with a comprehensive list of CDC and FDA resources. We removed references to the original Pfizer-BioNTech monovalent “purple top” vaccine which is no longer distributed: the last vials expire at the end of September. The revised list now incorporates resources for bivalent COVID-19 booster doses which are recommended for all people age 12 years and older who completed a primary series, regardless of previous booster doses. 

New resources from CDC and FDA include fact sheets, clinical considerations, vaccine administration tools, and storage and handling guidance. This page also includes a link to Immunize​.org’s regularly updated print-ready checklist for current versions of U.S. COVID-19 vaccination guidance and clinic support tools.



Bookmark this page for quick access to links to key COVID-19 vaccine resource pages from Immunize​.org, CDC, and other partners. As guidelines for COVID-19 vaccines are updated and new CDC materials are released, the page will continue to be updated.

Immunize​.org experts updated our popular Ask the Experts: Influenza web page to reflect the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations for influenza vaccination for the 2022–23 season. 



Immunize​.org’s Ask the Experts main page leads you to 30 distinct web pages on a variety of topics with more than 1,200 common or challenging questions and answers about vaccines and their administration. Immunize​.org’s team of experts includes Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH (team lead), Carolyn B. Bridges, MD, FACP, and Iyabode Beysolow, MD, MPH.

Look for a Special Edition of IZ Express – Ask the Experts on Thursday, September 22, featuring selected questions and answers on seasonal influenza vaccination from the web page. Share this new content with your colleagues and people you train.

Related Links

• Immunize​.org: Ask the Experts: Influenza web page
• Immunize​.org: Ask the Experts main page to access more than 1,200 questions and answers

On September 15, CDC announced a new equity-focused vaccine project offering an opportunity to pilot creative ways to reach people who are most affected by monkeypox virus. The Monkeypox Vaccine Equity Pilot Program was developed to demonstrate new, innovative, and non-traditional ways to address vaccination disparities within populations who are most affected.

Ten thousand vials of vaccine (enough for up to 50,000 intradermal doses) are reserved for this national pilot program. Projects may be developed by a state, territorial, or local health department, a tribal government or tribal organization, or a local non-governmental organization seeking to address vaccination disparities among one or more priority population groups most affected by monkeypox. Application requirements are listed at CDC's Monkeypox Vaccine Equity Pilot Program web page.

Related Links

• CDC: Press Release: CDC Opening Applications for Monkeypox Vaccine Equity Pilot Program (9/15/22)
• CDC: Monkeypox Vaccine Equity Pilot Program web page
• Immunize​.org: Vaccines: Monkeypox

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On September 13, CDC announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) is adding the United States to the list of countries with circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus. A portion of CDC's press release appears below.

[P]olioviruses found in New York, both from the case of paralytic polio in an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County and in several wastewater samples from communities near the patient’s residence, meet the World Health Organization (WHO)’s criteria for circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) – meaning that poliovirus continues to be transmitted in Rockland County, NY, and surrounding areas.

“Polio vaccination is the safest and best way to fight this debilitating disease and it is imperative that people in these communities who are unvaccinated get up to date on polio vaccination right away,” said Dr. José R. Romero, Director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “We cannot emphasize enough that polio is a dangerous disease for which there is no cure.”

Related Links

• CDC: Press Release: United States Confirmed as Country with Circulating Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus (9/13/22)
• Polio Global Eradication Initiative: Outbreak Countries web page
• New York State: Protecting New Yorkers through Immunization: State Department of Health Updates New Yorkers on Polio In New York State (9/9/22)

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In this week's Spotlight, we summarize resources at Immunize​.org that focus on adult vaccination. 



Resources for Adult Vaccination main page offers all the adult educational materials from Immunize​.org and partner organizations.

Our free downloadable 142-page book, Vaccinating Adults: A Step-by-Step Guide, is a "how to" guide that provides easy-to-use, practical information covering essential adult vaccination activities. This guide was produced in 2017, before the COVID-19 era, and reflects the recommendations of that time.

Adult Vaccination main page contains all of the Immunize​.org handouts that pertain to adult vaccinations.

CDC Schedules main page provides print PDFs of the recommended immunization schedules for adults, as well as for children and adolescents. 

Screening Checklists about Vaccine Contraindications and Precautions main page links you to forms that patients fill out to expedite assessment of vaccination needs and contraindications.

Journalists seek out Immunize​.org experts to help explain vaccines to the public and policy makers. We help the media understand and communicate the complex work vaccinators do. Here is one of our recent citations.

• Washington Post: Public Health Experts on Health Equity and the Lessons of the COVID-19 Pandemic (9/23/22)
• Mercury News: Should You Get Your Flu Shot and COVID Booster Together? Here’s What Experts Say (9/14/22)

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

• Wired: Monkeypox Cases in the U.S. Are Falling. There's No One Reason Why (9/15/22)
• New York Times: There’s Terrific News about the New COVID Boosters, but Few Are Hearing It (9/15/22)
• The Conversation: Fears of a Polio Resurgence in the U.S. Have Health Officials on High Alert – A Virologist Explains the History of this Dreaded Disease (9/7/22)

The experts at Immunize​.org reviewed and updated its Ask the Experts: Contraindications and Precautions web page, publishing a new version on August 29.  



Immunize​.org’s Ask the Experts main page leads you to 30 distinct web pages on a variety of topics with more than 1,200 common or challenging questions and answers about vaccines and their administration. Immunize.org’s team of experts includes Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH (team lead), Carolyn B. Bridges, MD, FACP, and Iyabode Beysolow, MD, MPH.

Related Links

• Immunize​.org: Ask the Experts: Contraindications and Precautions web page
• Immunize​.org: Ask the Experts main page to access more than 1,200 questions and answers

The September 1, 2022, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation for bivalent COVID-19 booster doses for all people age 12 years and older who completed a primary series, regardless of previous booster doses, represents a major reset in the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program. Every practice involved in administering or recommending COVID-19 vaccination needs to review and update its practices and patient materials now. CDC and FDA issued important updated fact sheets, immunization schedules, clinical considerations, and vaccine administration resources. Immunize​.org helps you access all of this new information easily. Here are resources and links you need to have at hand:

• Immunize​.org updated four-page job aid, Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools. This checklist links you to the latest version of all CDC and FDA COVID-19 vaccine guidance and resources for all ages.
• Immunize​.org Ask the Experts: COVID-19 web page has dozens of clinical questions and answers, all up to date with CDC guidance as of September 8
• Immunize​.org’s Vaccines: COVID-19 main page includes a comprehensive list of links to CDC, FDA, and partner resources for COVID-19 vaccination programs.

Our materials now include bivalent mRNA vaccine resources. Links to resources for the original monovalent Pfizer-BioNTech “purple cap” formulation have been removed. All remaining doses of this purple cap formulation expire at the end of September 2022. As guidelines for COVID-19 vaccines are updated and new CDC materials are released, the page will continue to be updated.

Related Links

• Immunize​.org: Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools
• Immunize​.org: Ask the Experts: COVID-19
• Immunize​.org: Vaccines: COVID-19 main page
• CDC: Use of COVID-19 Vaccines in the United States: Interim Clinical Considerations
• CDC: At-a-Glance: COVID-19 Vaccination Schedule 

Download Immunize​.org’s free 142-page book on adult vaccination to help build your program and train your team: Vaccinating Adults: A Step-by-Step Guide (Guide).

 

This thorough "how to" guide on adult vaccination provides easy-to-use, practical information covering all essential activities. It helps vaccine providers enhance their existing adult vaccination services or introduce them into any clinical setting.

The Guide is available to download/print either by chapter or in its entirety free at www.immunize.org/guide. The National Vaccine Program Office and CDC both supported the development of the Guide and provided early technical review.

The Guide is a valuable resource to assist providers in increasing adult vaccination rates. Be sure to get a copy today!

Please note: this guide was produced in 2017, before the COVID-19 era, and reflects the recommendations of that time.

Related Links

• Vaccinating Adults: A Step-by-Step Guide main page, permitting download of entire Guide (142 pages, PDF)
• View the table of contents and individual chapters (PDF):
  • Table of Contents
  • Step 1: Getting Started
  • Step 2: Setting Up for Vaccination Services
  • Step 3: Vaccine Storage and Handling
  • Step 4: Deciding Whom to Vaccinate
  • Step 5: Administering Vaccines
  • Step 6: Documentation and Related Issues
  • Step 7A: Financial Considerations
  • Step 7B: How to Bill for Adult Immunizations
• Immunize​.org’s educational materials (handouts) on adult immunization

In the August 15 issue, Pediatrics published Text Message Reminders for the Second Dose of Influenza Vaccine for Children: An RCT. The results and conclusions sections appear below.

Among 2,086 dyads enrolled, most children were 6 to 23 months and half publicly insured. Intervention children were more likely to receive a second dose by season end (83.8% versus 80.9%; adjusted risk difference (ARD) 3.8%; 95% confidence interval [0.1 to 7.5]) and day 42 (62.4% versus 55.7%; ARD 8.3% [3.6 to 13.0]). . . .

In this large-scale trial of primary care pediatric practices across the United States, text message reminders were effective in promoting increased and timelier second dose influenza vaccine receipt.

CDC published Two Cases of Monkeypox-Associated Encephalomyelitis—Colorado and the District of Columbia, July–August 2022 on September 13 in MMWR Early Release. A portion of the summary appears below. 

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) typically causes a febrile illness with lymphadenopathy and a diffuse vesiculopustular rash; neurologic complications are rare. The current monkeypox outbreak differs clinically and epidemiologically from previous outbreaks, and little is known about potential associated neurologic complications. . . .

Two U.S. cases of encephalomyelitis associated with acute MPXV infection were identified during summer 2022. Whether the underlying pathophysiology resulted from direct viral neuroinvasion or a parainfectious autoimmune process is currently unknown. . . .

Suspected cases of neurologic complications of monkeypox should be reported to state, tribal, local, or territorial health departments to improve understanding of the range of clinical manifestations of MPXV infections during the current outbreak and treatment options.

Access the MMWR article in HTML.

Related Links

• MMWR's main page provides access to MMWR Weekly and its companion publications
• Immunize​.org: Vaccines: Monkeypox

National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) hosted a webinar titled COVID-19 Updates: Current Booster Recommendations on September 19. An archived recording is now available on demand. Viewers will learn about current recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines and booster doses, along with strategies to effectively communicate COVID-19 vaccination recommendations. NFID designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit.

Watch the archived webinar.