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August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM). This annual observance highlights the efforts of healthcare professionals to protect patients of all ages against vaccine-preventable diseases through on-time vaccination. It is critical to maintain routine vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect both individuals and communities. Routine vaccination prevents illnesses that lead to additional medical visits, hospitalizations, and further strain on the healthcare system. This year, CDC calls on its partners to amplify these important messages when communicating with parents, pregnant women, healthcare professionals, and other adults.
CDC’s NIAM web page includes two toolkits, one for reaching healthcare professionals and the other for reaching parents and patients. Each includes key messages, sample social media content, and educational resources. CDC encourages its partners to share these messages and resources throughout August using the hashtag #ivax2protect.
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Beginning Tuesday, August 3, the Maine Immunization Program began hosting twice weekly trainings for all VFC provider sites. These trainings will serve as a refresher of VFC
requirements and will continue each Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the months of August
and September. We will re-evaluate the need to continue trainings for October at the end of
September.
All provider staff are welcome and encouraged to join.
Where: Zoom Meeting
When: Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 12:00 PM
Meeting ID: 920 8072 1290
Passcode: cMnCc6
As the 2021-22 school year quickly approaches, we will be focusing efforts on promoting
COVID-19 vaccination for adolescents within schools and community settings. COVID-19
vaccination is available for all children 12 years of age and older and will be the key to keeping
Maine’s COVID-19 cases down throughout the school year.
If you are a school nurse and interested in supplying COVID-19 vaccine to your students or are a provider interested in partnering with a local school to provide the COVID-19 vaccination,
please join the Maine Immunization Program for a virtual meeting to discuss plans for the fall.
Where: Zoom Meeting
When: Thursday, August 12 @ 12:00 PM Meeting ID: 207 287 3746
Passcode: vaccine |
The Food & Drug Administration authorized an extension of the shelf life for the Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine from 4.5 months to 6 months (an additional 45 days). The decision is based on data from ongoing stability assessment studies, which have demonstrated that the vaccine is stable at 6 months
when refrigerated at temperatures of 36 – 46 degrees Fahrenheit (2 – 8 degrees Celsius).
Vaccine providers should visit Vaxcheck to confirm the latest expiration dates of vaccine, including those currently available for administration throughout the U.S. This extension applies to refrigerated vials of J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine that have been held in accordance with the manufacturer’s storage conditions.
MenQuadfi and Vaxelis are now available to order in ImmPact to all enrolled VFC Providers.
For more information on the products, please visit:
IAC’s Give2MenACWY website promotes the importance of adolescent vaccination, including administering the recommended booster dose of MenACWY vaccine at age 16. Many teens are behind on vaccines because of the pandemic, so adolescent vaccination is more important than ever. Original materials on this colorful website for healthcare professionals have been updated to incorporate the 2020 ACIP meningococcal vaccine recommendations and the most recent vaccine coverage statistics from CDC’s National Immunization Survey – Teen (NIS – Teen). One particularly popular resource on the site is the updated Algorithm for MenACWY Immunization in Adolescents 11–18 Years of Age.
It is important for providers and parents to remember that Meningococcal B vaccine is to be given in addition to the MenACWY vaccine. These vaccines are not interchangeable, as they protect against different serogroups of meningitis. Adolescents are not fully protected against bacterial meningitis unless they have received both types of meningitis vaccination.
The Meningococcal B vaccine is recommended to be given to adolescents and young adults between 16 and 23 years old (16 – 18 years only when using state supplied vaccine). There are two brands of the Meningococcal B vaccine, including Bexsero® and Trumenba®.
Our goal is to have clinicians vaccinate before patients graduate from high school. An easy way to do this is to:
- Administer the first Meningococcal ACWY at age 11-12.
- Boost with Meningococcal ACWY as early as age 16 years and give the first dose of Meningococcal
B at the same visit.
- Administer the remaining Meningococcal B vaccine doses as directed.
At the beginning of 2020, the Maine Immunization Program partnered with the Meningitis B Action Project to co-brand the following Meningococcal B materials:
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