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Protect Your Patients During the
2024-2025 Respiratory Illness Season
October 1, 2024
Dear Massachusetts Healthcare Provider,
The 2024-2025 respiratory illness season is here and the time for acting to prevent respiratory disease is upon us. The Massachusetts Vaccine Confidence Project (MVCP) recognizes that as a provider, you are critical in this work. We are reaching out to you for your assistance in promoting immunization to reduce respiratory disease across Massachusetts during this year's respiratory illness season. We are also sharing a number of resources to assist you in promoting respiratory immunizations and improving uptake among your patients.
Similar to the 2023-2024 respiratory illness season, COVID-19, influenza and RSV viruses may be circulating at the same time this season. As in recent years, this could strain an already overwhelmed healthcare system, challenging our ability to provide the best care for all patients.
COVID-19, influenza, pneumococcal and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunizations are available this fall and winter to help provide protection against these respiratory illnesses. Immunization is especially important for people who are at higher risk of developing serious complications, including young children, pregnant people, people with weakened immune systems, people with disabilities, and older adults. Immunization remains one of the safest and most effective protections for reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, long-term health impacts, and even death.
Data reported on the Massachusetts Respiratory Immunizations Dashboard as of July 3, 2024, indicates that:
- Fewer than 25% of Massachusetts residents were vaccinated against COVID-19 during the 2023-2024 respiratory illness season;
- Only about 40% of Massachusetts residents were vaccinated against influenza during last season.
The Massachusetts Vaccine Confidence Project believes that through our collective efforts across the Commonwealth, we can improve immunization uptake and reduce disease, especially for vulnerable populations. We hope that the following resources and suggestions will help you to improve immunization uptake in your practice during the respiratory season.
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Assess a patient’s immunization status at all clinical encounters and strongly recommend all respiratory season immunizations where indicated. Your recommendation is one of the most important factors in patients accepting immunizations.
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Resource (CDC): Key Strategies for Making Vaccine Recommendations
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Resource (American Academy of Pediatrics): Communicating With Families About How to Protect Against Fall and Winter Respiratory Viruses
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Utilize Motivational Interviewing when encountering a lack of vaccine confidence.
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Resource: Vaccine Conversations: Motivational Interviewing Demonstrations, Live! by Boost Oregon.
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Utilize prompts in the electronic health record (EHR) to remind you that immunizations are due.
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Use standing orders to assess a patient’s immunization status and to administer immunizations.
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Resource (Immunize.Org): Clinical Standing Orders Templates
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Leverage your local pharmacy especially for your adult patients, to deliver vaccinations. If you are not able to stock vaccines at your facility, e-prescribe/prescribe to the pharmacy. The prescription will activate pharmacy reminder systems which can improve uptake.
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Use immunization reminder and recall systems to identify and notify patients who are behind on immunizations (recall) or due soon (reminder).
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Resource (American Academy of Pediatrics): Reminder and Recall Strategies
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Name an Immunization Champion in your practice to oversee your efforts.
- Join an upcoming Massachusetts-based webinar or listen to a recent webinar:
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Resource: 2024-2025 Influenza Season Update, October 8, at 12:00 PM, with Lisa Grohskopf, CDC
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Resource: A Father’s Story – Storytelling and Motivational Interviewing to Increase Influenza Vaccine Uptake, December 5, at 12:00 PM, with Jeb Teichman, MD, FAAP, Families Fighting Flu
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Resource: On-Demand Webinar: Accessible Vaccination: A First Step Towards Health Equity with Danielle Hall, Autism Society (Recorded 9/25/2024)
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Resource: On-Demand Webinar: Pregnancy and Newborn Immunization During the 2024-2025 Respiratory Illness Season (Recorded 8/27/24)
Thank you for all that you do to improve the health of your patients and for your participation in this important effort to reduce respiratory illness in Massachusetts during the upcoming respiratory illness season.
Sincerely,
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