ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
August is National Immunization Awareness Month, and while it is important to emphasize the importance of routine vaccinations for children returning to classrooms, Immunize Kansas Coalition Board Chair Anne Zajic said it is just as important to emphasize vaccines for people of all ages.
While fall and wintertime tend to be thought of as the height of cold and flu season, Zajic said August was chosen for NIAM because of the need for back to school vaccines.
“Families are visiting their health care providers,” she said. “We celebrate in August so we can get that message out. As families are returning to providers for the beginning of the school year for physicals, it’s a great time to start checking in about those annual vaccines.”
Zajic said in addition to flu vaccines, there are several other immunizations that are important during childhood and even into adulthood.
“There’s flu, Hepatitis B, MMR vaccines,” she said. “There’s your Tdap vaccine that includes diphtheria, tetanus, and there’s important vaccines like HPV that really aren’t looked at until adolescence. You can begin vaccinating for HPV at age 9, and that spans into adulthood around age 45.”
Zajic called immunizations a public health necessity.
“By immunizing yourself and your children, you’re not just protecting your family, but you’re protecting your community as a whole,” she said.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought a heavier emphasis to the need for immunizations, but Zajic said she feels the growth of the vaccine industry has somewhat steadied since the pandemic.
“I don’t know if there are any new vaccinations,” she said. “I think we continue to stress the importance of the vaccinations that have been around for quite some time. They are evidenced-based. There’s data showing they are effective.”
While back to school and cold and flu season are important times for immunization, Zajic said she feels there is a need for vaccines year-round and not just when flu rates are sky high.
“You should really be considering what is best for you, your family, your community and how you can best protect and prevent diseases from spreading,” she said.
Vaccines are available from county health departments, doctors offices, hospitals as well as local pharmacies and health fairs, and Zajic said anywhere medical providers can be seen, vaccine can be requested.
IKC recently received a proclamation from the office of Gov. Laura Kelly for National Immunization Awareness Month, and the agency also hosted its annual gathering in Topeka earlier this month.
Visit the IKC Web site at immunizekansascoalition.org where Zajic said great resources can be found on immunizations.
“We just finished our latest publication, ‘Vaccine Fears Overturned by Facts,’” she said. “I highly recommend reviewing that booklet. We’ve got resources about the measles, MMR vaccine, education. We have FAQ for common questions. We have a toolkit out there for HPV, meningococcal vaccine, Tdap. If you have any questions about vaccines, you can go to that and review and have your questions answered.”
This information, Zajic said, can be taken to providers if people to continue to have more questions.
“That should give people some evidence-based background of why we should be providing these vaccines to the community,” she said.
