Author: Kate Smith

Tell Congress: Protect Coverage for Lifesaving Vaccines

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This week, vaccine advocates from around the country will be in Washington, D.C. to urge members of Congress to protect access to lifesaving vaccines. Join them in raising our collective voices by contacting your members of Congress today and asking them to support the Protecting Free Vaccines Act! Vaccinate Your Family’s SQUAD™ (SQuaring Up Against Disease) advocates will be sharing their personal – and often heartbreaking – stories of how vaccine-preventable diseases have affected them and their families. By sharing these stories, they’ll remind Representatives and Senators that vaccines are our best defense against serious outcomes like hospitalization and death. Read More …

Flu Vaccine Effectiveness found to be Around 50%

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Russ, et al. (2025, Sep 25). Interim effectiveness estimates of 2025 Southern Hemisphere influenza vaccines in preventing influenza-associated outpatient and hospitalized illness–Eight southern hemisphere countries, March-September 2025. MMWR Weekly Report, 74(36), 570-578. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7436a3.htm Takeaways: During the 2025 Southern Hemisphere influenza season, seasonal influenza vaccination reduced influenza-associated outpatient visits by 50.4% and hospitalization by 49.7%.  Seasonal influenza vaccination provides important protection from influenza illness and associated potential complications. Monitoring seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in Southern Hemisphere countries can apprise health authorities in Northern Hemisphere countries about the potential protection provided from vaccination. Using data from influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe Read More …

Democratic Governors Unveil State Public Health Alliance

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The Washington Post (10/15, Ovalle, Sun) reports that on Wednesday, 15 Democratic governors “announced the formation of a state public health alliance. … Leaders of the Governors Public Health Alliance said it will serve as a hub for governors and public health leaders to monitor disease outbreaks, establish public health policy guidance, prepare for pandemics and buy vaccines and other supplies.” This “alliance, spanning states where roughly 1 in 3 Americans live, underscores the increasing fragmentation of a public health system that has been upended by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” whose “challenge to long-standing vaccine Read More …

Motivational Interviewing in the Immunization Space

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On August 6, 2025, Kate Smith, MD, MPH, Executive Director of the Academy and program manager of the ICD spoke to the Kidwell Network about motivational interviewing in the immunization space. Check out her presentation here:  https://ce.nemours.org/content/online-motivational-interviewing-immunization-space#group-tabs-node-course-default4

JAMA Pediatrics shows HPV vaccine effective

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In this cross-sectional study among 2335 adolescent girls and young adult women, relative differences in positivity for HPV types decreased significantly for 2-valent, 4-valent, and 9-valent vaccine–type HPV among vaccinated participants and 2-valent and 4-valent vaccine–type HPV among unvaccinated participants. This study found that population-level effectiveness and herd protection were robust in sexually experienced adolescent girls and young women at relatively high risk for HPV. Read the study

Locating the Best Science-Based Vaccine Recommendations

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Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia In June 2025, the composition of the committee that makes vaccine recommendations to the CDC, known as the ACIP, was dramatically changed, as were the processes by which these recommendations were made historically. The result has been recommendations not supported by the body of scientific evidence. The January 2025 immunization schedules are the last schedules available reflecting changes made using the Evidence to Recommendations (EtR) framework, long regarded as a comprehensive and rational methodology for creating immunization recommendations. The result has been a divergence of vaccine recommendations by professional societies composed of clinicians from those made Read More …

AHIP, Major Insurers Commit to Cover Vaccines

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Health plans are required to cover vaccines, without cost-sharing, that are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which is in line with federal requirements as part of the Affordable Care Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.  “Health plans are committed to maintaining and ensuring affordable access to vaccines. Health plan coverage decisions for immunizations are grounded in each plan’s ongoing, rigorous review of scientific and clinical evidence, and continual evaluation of multiple sources of data,” AHIP said in a statement issued Tuesday. AHIP said its plans will continue to cover all vaccines Read More …

Meyer, DPH Standing Order to Protect Vaccine Access

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On Wednesday, September 10, Governor Matt Meyer and the Delaware Division of Public Health issued a standing order on COVID-19 vaccine eligibility and are calling on the Board of Pharmacy to convene an emergency meeting to protect vaccine access. “Vaccines save lives. Science, not politics, will guide how we keep our communities safe,” said Governor Matt Meyer. “With this standing order and our partnership with neighboring states, we are taking control of our future, ensuring that every Delawarean has access to the protection they need.” The standing order refers to recommendations from other relevant professional organizations to determine eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine. Read More …

Vaccine Insurance Coverage in Delaware

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In the wake of federal changes, Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro and the Delaware Department of Insurance wish to inform residents about carrier’s intentions regarding insurance coverage for immunizations. “Vaccines save lives,” said Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro. “They save money, preventing costly diseases and conditions, keeping insurance and care affordable. They save health care capacity, a critical resource to retain as we face provider shortages. But again, and most importantly: they save lives.” “Residents are reaching out, concerned that they will lose coverage for and access to the immunizations we rely on to keep our communities healthy. I am proud to share Read More …

AAFP Breaks with Federal Policy on COVID Vaccines

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The American Academy of Family Physicians said on Monday (9/8) that it recommends all adults over the age of 18, children, and pregnant women receive COVID-19 vaccines, a contrast to the US government’s narrowed approvals. See recommendations here. Its suggested immunizations for COVID are in line with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations last month.