August is National Immunization Awareness Month!

August is National Immunization Awareness Month! This annual observance highlights the importance of vaccinations for people of all ages. As families prepare to send children back to school, it’s a timely opportunity to check in about the health-related items that should be on their to-do list – especially vaccinations! 

Recent CDC reports document challenges related to COVID-19 and routine vaccination for children. Health centers are positioned to make significant progress to get children vaccinated. For example, reminding patients that co-administration of the COVID-19 vaccine with other routine vaccines is safe.

CDC resources can assist you in communicating about vaccinations this month and beyond.

COVID-19 Vaccination

• Clinical resources
  • CDC’s COVID-19 Vaccination for Children website
  • Recording of NACHC’s recent webinar: We Can Do This: Educating Nurses and Pediatric Staff about New COVID-19 Vaccines for Children
• Promotion/Patient education materials in multiple languages
  • HHS’ We Can Do This website
  • The CDC-funded National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants and Migrants creates COVID-19 communications materials in 40+ languages. Messages are both linguistically and culturally appropriate. Drag-and-drop templates make their materials easy to customize fact sheets, conversation guides, and more.
  • CDC’s FAQs about COVID-19 Vaccination for Children and Teens

Routine Childhood Vaccination

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Recommended Immunization Schedule for Children and Adolescents Aged 18 Years or Younger — United States, 2022

Source:  HRSA

HHS Awards Over $155 Million to Expand Training for Primary Care Residents in Underserved and Rural Communities

July, 2022:  HHS, through HRSA, announced over $155 million in awards for 72 teaching health centers that operate primary care medical and dental residency programs that include high need specialties such as psychiatry, as part of President Biden’s Unity Agenda to address the nation’s mental health crisis.

These awards, supported by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and Fiscal Year 2022 funds, come at a significant moment when the nation’s health care workforce is facing challenges, as recently highlighted in the Surgeon General’s Advisory Addressing Health Worker Burnout.

Here is a breakdown of the awards:

• $135 million in American Rescue Plan funds to support existing and new teaching health centers to support additional resident positions
• $20 million in Fiscal Year 2022 funds to support existing Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education residency programs to continue resident training in the upcoming academic year.

Read the full release HERE.

Source:  HHS

HRSA Invests Over $43 Million to Optimize Health Center Use of Health Information Tools

July, 2022:  HRSA awarded over $43 million to 49 Health Center Controlled Networks. These funds will support over 1,200 health centers nationwide to improve care quality, reduce health disparities, and engage in value-based care delivery through the use of health technologies.  For a list of HCCN, visit this link.

Source:  HRSA