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Welcome to the Vaccines for Respiratory Illnesses Newsletter! Here you'll find the latest news and information on respiratory illness vaccine related topics.
- Latest News
- Clinical Updates
- Training and Events
- Resources
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s releases a weekly report on influenzas activity across the United States.
Key points this week:
- Seasonal influenza activity remains low nationally but is on the rise.
- Flu activity often begins to increase in October.
- It’s the perfect time for you and your patients to get influenza vaccine!
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Remember, it takes two weeks after vaccination for the flu vaccine to start working. Encourage vaccination now so Washingtonians can be protected ahead of social gatherings.
Check out our Flu Free Washington Partner Toolkit to find template social media posts, emails, blog posts and more!
You can find fact sheets, flyers and more resources on our Flu Materials page. This page continues to be updated with new materials – including a flyer promoting flu vaccination for agriculture workers.
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There are updated COVID-19 and respiratory illness resources from WA DOH. These materials might be familiar to you with minor updates as applicable. These materials aim to continue supporting your efforts in building vaccine confidence and promoting respiratory illness prevention. We will continue to update materials as they are completed.
Updated Resources:
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The Office of Immunization updated our seasonal vaccine dashboards to include data for the current 2024-2025 season. All dashboards are updated weekly on Wednesdays by 3 pm. Updated data are available on the following data dashboards:
There have been a few notable changes to the COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard this season. Coverage metrics were updated to align with how federal partners report vaccination coverage in the CDC COVIDVaxView. The previously available initiated and up-to-date metrics have been retired. Available metrics on the COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard include:
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Primary Series Coverage: People who received the recommended number of doses for the primary series.
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Last Season Coverage: People who received at least one dose of the 2023-2024 vaccine between September 11, 2023 and August 22, 2024.
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Current Season Coverage: People with at least one dose of the 2024-2025 vaccine since August 22, 2024.
If you have questions or need any technical assistance with any of the available vaccine dashboards, please email waiisdatarequests@doh.wa.gov.
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For the upcoming respiratory disease season, this tool has been improved and redesigned to serve you better! The new Vax in A Minute (VIAM) toolkit includes flyers for every month during respiratory virus season, and tools for spring and summer, to assure year-round immunization program supports. The tool can help boost staff confidence in promoting vaccines for residents.
These flyers are non-technical vaccine marketing materials that can be used with residents in a variety of applications to boost respiratory vaccine demand in long-term care settings all year.
Use these flyers to:
- Boost resident demand and vaccine coverage rates.
- Increase family and visitor vaccination.
- Provide safer spaces for everyone in any LTC setting.
- Follow up after resident communication.
- Prepare residents and families for care plan meetings.
- Inform residents of important vaccines.
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Vaccinate Your Family (VYF) launched its Dispelling Respiratory Rumors campaign to help dispel common myths about influenza, COVID-19, RSV, and general wellness during the winter months. The toolkit includes resources and shareable materials, including graphics and social media messages. Use #ViralTruths to amplify your messages.
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epiTRENDS is a monthly online publication produced by the Washington State Department of Health for those interested in epidemiology and public health practice in Washington state. The October issue focuses on influenza.
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Immunize.org recently updated its resource for health care professionals: How to Administer Intranasal and Oral Vaccinations. The primary changes fix broken links to CDC resources moved during recent changes to the CDC website. In anticipation of at-home administration of FluMist during the 2025–26 influenza vaccination season (recently licensed by FDA), a note was added that the instructions provided in this document are to be used when FluMist is administered by a health care professional.
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Join the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) on Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 11:00 AM PST for a webinar discussing the importance of vaccination to help protect against severe illness during the upcoming US respiratory season. Speakers will discuss current recommendations for COVID-19, influenza (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and pneumococcal disease prevention, and will highlight strategies to increase immunization rates.
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Join the Lung Association and partners for a webinar on October 30, 2024 at 10:00 AM PST to learn about fall and winter respiratory viruses like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), flu and COVID-19. This webinar will focus on the recommendations for the 2024-25 season and implications of respiratory viruses on adults living with chronic conditions like asthma, COPD, diabetes and heart disease. The webinar will highlight prevention strategies, vaccination recommendations, where to get vaccinated and more. Please share this opportunity with the communities you serve!
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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)'s next meeting will take place on October 23-24, 2024. It will be a virtual meeting. There are a lot of important topics discussed. No registration is needed to attend the event. Here is the agenda: https://www.cdc.gov/acip/media/pdfs/2024/10/agenda-2024-10-23-24-508.pdf.
There will be votes on Wednesday on:
- Pneumococcal Vaccines
- Influenza Vaccines VFC
- COVID-19 Vaccines
And votes on Thursday on:
- Meningococcal Vaccines
- Meningococcal VFC
- Immunization Schedules
- RSV Vaccines - Adult
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FOR SCHOOLS AND CHILD CARE FACILITIES
FOR LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES
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If you aren't already signed up for Vaccines for Respiratory Illnesses Newsletter, please visit the Department of Health's email subscribers page here. Once you enter your email, on the next page expand the Immunization topic, select Vaccines for Respiratory Illnesses Newsletter, and click submit.
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This newsletter summarizes content beginning the week of October 6, 2024 and was sent out on October 18, 2024. |
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