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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

Michael Hodin, Ph.D and William Schaffner, M.D.discuss the importance of prioritizing quality of care over quantity of care in op-ed published by The Hill.

High out of pocket cost is a contributing factor that often directly influences a Medicare beneficiary’s decision of whether or not to get vaccinated.  Our new infographic illustrates this connection—when seniors have to pay for a specific vaccine, immunization rates for that particular condition are often much lower compared to vaccines that they can receive for free.

“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

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, particularly among children. But when it comes to adult immunization, we have not been nearly as successful.

Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ami Bera, and Michelle Lujan Grisham addressed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reinforce the importance of their efforts to reduce financial barriers to vaccine access in the Medicare Part D program.

Adult immunization rates are not nearly as high as they should be. As a result, upward of 50,000 adults in the U.S. die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases, and thousands more suffer serious health problems. Disparities persist as well, with adult immunization rates for minorities far below immunization rates for whites with respect to most recommended vaccines.