The Ochsner Health System is Louisiana’s largest health system, comprising more than 80 health centers and urgent care centers, 29 hospitals, 18,000 employees, and more than 1,100 physicians covering 90+ medical specialties and subspecialties.  Ochsner created a System Vaccine Subcommittee, a group of providers, pharmacists, nurses, IT specialists, inventory management, and nurses to increase immunizations for their patients.  The team …

Annie Fedorowicz, Adolescent and Adult Immunization Coordinator, Minnesota Department of Health Despite the many health benefits recommended vaccines provide, adult immunization rates in the United States are much lower than they should be and lag far behind Healthy People 2020 goals. This troubling trend is exacerbated when it comes to at-risk populations – including seniors, communities of color, limited English …

Every May, the National Adult and Influenza Immunization Summit (NAIIS) brings together stakeholders from across the country to Atlanta to celebrate the achievements of individuals and organizations that have set out to improve access to adult immunization. Adult immunization rates in the United States are far too low, resulting in thousands of hospitalizations and deaths. Despite these challenges, Mitchel C. …

AVAC members are briefed by Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Director NCIRD August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NAIM), an annual observance to highlight the importance of vaccination for people of all ages.  Immunizations are a highly cost-effective form of preventive medicine that protect health and save lives.  The public health system that plays such an important role in making sure people …

Polio. Smallpox. Rubella. Diphtheria. For the vast majority of Americans living today, the closest we’ve ever come into contact with those diseases is when we bring up their respective Wikipedia pages. And yet as recently as the mid-20th century, they were still quite common. What’s changed between then and now? Simple: vaccines. One of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, particularly …

It’s been just over a year since the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition (AVAC) launched on Capitol Hill to raise awareness, improve access, and increase utilization of vaccines among adults. Vaccines protect us from a variety of common diseases that can be serious and even deadly. Here’s a snapshot of our activities over the past year

Consider the following numbers: 49,000. 200,000. 10.4 billion. 1. 49,000 is the number of deaths each year in the United States due to flu-related complications. 200,000 is the number of annual flu -related hospitalizations. 10.4 billion dollars is the annual cost to the US healthcare system due to flu. And 1 is the vaccine recommended annually for all individuals age 6 months and older to prevent flu. Then why …

May is Older Americans Month, a time for honoring and celebrating older adults who have educated us, motivated us, inspired us, and—most importantly—cared for us. Now it’s our chance to redouble our efforts to make sure we care for them. That’s why the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition (AVAC) joined the Administration for Community Living this month to raise awareness about …

AVAC and The Next Frontier for Immunizations By Dale Dauten In a world of massive information overload, we have to be loud and insistent with our vaccination message. Nowhere is that more true than in Washington, DC.  Mike Popovich CEO, Scientific Technologies Corporation Perhaps you remember learning that the first vaccination was given in 1796. By the way, that was the same year …

April 2016 is National Minority Health Month and this week marks World Immunization Week.  This year’s theme for Minority Health month is “Accelerating Health Equity for the Nation.”  Our nation has made important progress in recent years toward increasing immunization rates among all Americans. This is particularly true for children: disparities in childhood vaccination coverage across socio-demographic groups have essentially …