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As a family physician practicing for more than 35 years, and Board Member of the National Hispanic Medical Association, Dr. Minerva Campos knows that immunizations prevent numerous diseases.  That’s why she needs to stock a lot of vaccines for both children and adults.

Dr. Kelly Moore serves as the director of the Tennessee Immunization Program (TIP) at the state’s Department of Health where she and her team are responsible for the state’s federally-funded immunization services, including the Vaccines for Children Program, the state immunization registry (“TennIIS”), and vaccine-preventable disease surveillance and outbreak response.

Ochsner created a System Vaccine Subcommittee to increase immunizations for their patients. The team worked to implement written order guidelines, also known as standing orders, which are approved by a physician or other authorized practitioner that allow qualified health care professionals eligible under state law (such as registered nurses or pharmacists) to assess the need for and administer vaccines to patients meeting certain criteria, such as age or underlying medical condition.

Annie Fedorowicz, the Adolescent and Adult Immunization Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), is trying to change that by getting to the root causes of vaccine disparities in her state. As Fedorowicz explains, programming can’t be targeted without knowing the underlying issues. 

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. Rothholz—chief strategy officer of the American Pharmacists Association and chair of the NAIIS Awards Committee—makes the case that the individuals involved in this area deserve recognition for the passion and strong convictions they bring to landmark immunization efforts.

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 receive their recommended immunizations must be supported.

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.