August is National Immunization Awareness Month

The summer is a time for many families to get caught up on immunizations. The summer of 2020 may be more important than previous summers as COVID-19 has caused a decline in vaccinations over the last several months.

Although August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), making and implementing a catch-up plan now can help ensure children and adolescents are protected from preventable diseases and HPV-related cancers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and National HPV Vaccination Roundtable have heeded the need to support health systems with resources and targeted messaging.

The National HPV Vaccination Roundtable, founded and funded by the American Cancer Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a coalition of approximately 70 organizations that work to improve HPV immunization uptake to prevent cancer.

Understanding the unique situation COVID-19 has created, they collaborated with stakeholders to create new resources that include "Actions for Health Systems" and "Messaging for Parents" to "get adolescent vaccination back on track" this summer.

The plethora of resources include videos and infographics for health systems and parents, webpage on vaccination decisions during COVID-19, HPV prioritization tools and videos, lessons learned videos and case studies, intervention videos, staff training and education, IT interventions, communication resources and survivor stories. They also have a site and toolkit devoted to "HPV Prevention: Nurses Get It Done."

The CDC and AAP also offer resources. The CDC offers NIAM toolkits, resources, and graphics for communicating with healthcare professionals, parents and patients. AAP offers campaign videos, infographics and sample social media posts. 

We encourage providers to engage parents with adolescents in the HPV vaccination conversation and empower them the tools and resources to act.