Fall 2006
Vol. 16, Number 3

At the request of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), IDSA has presented NVAC with its proposals for strengthening adult and adolescent immunization.

Immunization Work Group Chair Neal Halsey, MD, FIDSA, presented the Society’s recommendations at the February NVAC meeting. The six-part document was drafted by the work group and revised based on input from more than 60 IDSA members who submitted comments in response to a December e-mail to the Society membership.

“The comments were very much on target—many of them from thought leaders in the immunization field,” Dr. Halsey said.

The document proposes strengthening adult and adolescent immunization coverage through increasing efforts by specialists, professional societies, and government agencies; increasing resources from state and federal governments; and policy reforms involving Medicare and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Section 317 Program, which funds vaccine programs at state and local levels.

The revised document is available at www.idsociety.org. From the drop-down menu under “Policy & Advocacy,” select “Immunization.” Click on “Working Principles: Actions Needed to Strengthen Adult and Adolescent Immunization Coverage in the U.S.”