Vaccine Information for Your Office Staff and Patients
This website from the Immunization Action Coalition, has lots of information on vaccines. It includes personal testimonies from people who have lost loved ones from vaccine preventable illnesses including influenza, pertussis, meningitis, measles, chickenpox and many more. It also has photos showing what patients look like who have vaccine preventable diseases which can be important since most people living today haven’t seen anyone with measles, mumps, polio and many other vaccine preventable diseases. There is also a link on the home page with the current child/adolescent and adult immunization schedules.
On the infant/children page, there are links to immunization videos for parents, information on how vaccines work, the importance of vaccines and so much more! This website also has pages for preteens, teens, adults and the vaccine preventable diseases. Information on each of the pages has been created for that specific population. This is such a valuable resource. Please have your office Vaccine Champion review this website and share information with your staff. This is also a great resource for patients and parents who are vaccine hesitant for any reason.
Here is information on how to properly store and handle your vaccines including COVID-19 vaccines.
This resource explains how vaccines work. It includes how the immune system works to fight illnesses, how vaccines work by developing immunity through imitating an infection and the different types of vaccines including live, attenuated vaccines, inactivated vaccines, toxoid vaccines, subunit vaccines and conjugate vaccines and explains why some vaccines require more than one dose. This is a two-page handout in easy to understand language which could be reviewed at a staff meeting to help better educate medical assistants and front office staff or even to parents who have general questions about vaccines and how they work.
This website is all about the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC). It includes information about which patients qualify for the VFC program, benefits of the VFC program for parents and links to find information about your specific state’s VFC coordinator. Additionally, if you click on the providers button you will find additional information on filing VAERS or CMR Reports, the VFC program as well as Storage and Handling Training.
Catching Up Patients Who Are Behind on Vaccines
One of our biggest responsibilities it to help patients stay current on their immunizations. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 20% of infants and children are behind on their vaccines. Please review these links for information on how to bring patients up to date on their vaccines.
Click here for a Catch-Up Immunization Schedule for Persons aged 4 months-18 years who started late or who are more than 1 month behind.
Catch Up Information on Specific Vaccines for Infants/Children/Adolescents
Click here for Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) Catch-Up Guidance for Children 4 Months through 4 Years of Age.
Click here for Diphtheria-, Tetanus-, and Pertussis-Containing Vaccines Catch-up Guidance for Children 4 Months through 6 years of Age.
Click here for Haemophilus influenzae type b-Containing Vaccines Catch-Up Guidance for Children 4 Months through 4 Years of Age. For ActHIB, Pentacel, Hiberix, or Unknown.
Click here for PedVaxHIB vaccine only.
Click here for Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) Catch-Up Guidance for Children 4 Months through 17 Years of Age.
Click here for Tetanus-, Diphtheria-, and Pertussis-Containing Vaccines Catch-Up Guidance for Children 7 through 9 Years of Age.
Click here for Tetanus-, Diphtheria- and Pertussis-Containing Vaccines Catch-Up Guidance for Children 10 through 18 Years of Age.
COVID – 19 ACIP Vaccine Recommendations
Vaccine Recommendations for Pregnant Women
Many providers and patients have questions about whether or not to vaccinate pregnant women. Please see the resources below provided by the Maternal Immunization Task Force which is made up of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American College of Nurse-Midwives and AWHONN and others.
Safety of COVID – 19 Vaccines in Pregnant Women
ACOG COVID – 19 Vaccination Recommendations for Pregnant Women
ACOG COVID – 19 Vaccine Resources for Your Practice
Other Vaccines Recommended During Pregnancy
ACOG Chart – Click here for Summary of Maternal Immunization Recommendations
Immunizations for Pregnant Women: A Call to Action
How to Integrate Immunizations Into Routine-Obstetric-Gynecologic Care
Click here for Strategies for Effectively Integrating Immunizations Into Routine Obstetric-Gynecologic Care.
