Click here to register!

The Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, designates this Live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This program has been offered by the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, Massachusetts Department of Public Health. A maximum of 1.0 contact hours for this program will be provided in accordance with the regulations governing continuing education requirements for the following Boards of Registration:

Pharmacists may receive up to 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ in accordance with 247CMR 4.00.

The webinar is free-of-charge; however, pre-registration is required. Click here to register!

Thursday, October 28, 2021, 8:00 a.m. - 3:45 p.m. ET

Click here to register!

The 26th Annual Massachusetts Immunization Action Partnership (MIAP) Pediatric Immunization Skills Building Conference will be held on Thursday, October 28, 2021, as a virtual event. This full-day virtual pediatric conference will provide up-to-date information on the field of pediatric immunization with an emphasis on current immunization recommendations and general immunization updates.

At the conclusion of the conference, the participation should be able to:

Paul Offit, MD, Director, Vaccine Education Center; Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Katherine Hsu, MD, MPH, FAAP, Medical Director, Division of STD Prevention & Ratelle STD/HIV Prevention Training Center of New England, Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH)

Andrew Kroger, MD, MPH, Health Communications Specialist, AD Communications Team, Vaccine Task Force, CDC

Pejman Talebian, MA, MPH, Director, Immunization Division, MDPH

A. Patricia Wodi, MD, Medical Officer, CDC

In addition to the Plenary Sessions, Breakout Sessions are planned.

Click here to go to the conference website.

If you have any questions, please contact Cynthia McReynolds.

September 23, 2021 -- CDC Director, Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation for a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in certain populations and also recommended a booster dose for those in high risk occupational and institutional settings.

CDC Recommends:

Reference:

CDC Statement on ACIP Booster Recommendations (CDC Press Release)

A strong recommendation from a health care professional is a critical factor in whether parents will get a flu vaccine for their children. While most parents believe vaccines are important for their children and their families, they need a reminder from you to get vaccinated.

CDC created the "I Get It" campaign to promote influenza vaccination this season. The campaign's digital toolkit offers a number of multi-media resources for communicating the importance of getting a flu vaccine. The toolkit includes graphics; sample newsletter, social media and web content; and details on upcoming flu-specific activities and events. The campaign materials are downloadable, shareable, and some of the material can be customized for your practice.

See the Resources Spotlight section of this newsletter for "I Get It" campaign and additional influenza season resources.

Each year, CDC publishes adolescent vaccination coverage reports from its National Immunization Survey-Teen (NIS-Teen) and other data sources. The results of the 2020 NIS-Teen survey, "National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — United States, 2020," were published earlier this month in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

In 2020, adolescent coverage with tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine, and the first dose of meningococcal conjugate (MenACWY) vaccine remained high and continued to improve for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. Massachusetts adolescent vaccination coverage as reported remained high.

While Massachusetts 2020 rates as reported remained high, the survey results reflect adolescent vaccination coverage prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant disruptions in adolescent well-care and routine vaccine administration during the COVID-19 pandemic threaten Massachusetts' vaccination coverage and could put our teens at risk for vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. Continued efforts are required to ensure that adolescent vaccination is back on track. See the Resource Spotlight section of this newsletter for adolescent immunization and catch-up resources.