I Raise the Rates! March Edition
In this edition of I Raise the Rates (IRtR), you will find a variety of new resources from several public health partners, educational opportunities, and a selection of media articles related to immunization.
Updates from the American College of Physicians (ACP)
Opportunity to Participate in ACP Quality Improvement Initiative
to Increase Adult Influenza Immunization Rates
APPLY NOW Opportunity to participate in ACP Quality Improvement Initiative to Increase Adult Influenza Immunization Rates ACP is recruiting internal medicine and subspecialty practices and residency programs to participate in the I Raise the Rates quality improvement programs to increase influenza and adult immunization rates. ACP’s I Raise the Rates program, which is supported by funding from the CDC, GSK, and Sanofi provides QI education and virtual coaching support from ACP Advance expert coaches to support increased adult immunization coverage. The program also offers access to a virtual learning community, tailored educational offerings, including free registration to QI precourse at the 2022 ACP Internal Medicine meeting in Chicago, IL, and the opportunity to earn more than 54 CME and ABIM and ABIM MOC credits for program participants.

The deadline to apply is April 8, 2022. Please click the button below to access the recruitment flyer for more information about participation benefits, requirements, and the application link.
Updated Standing Order Templates with New CDC Adult Recommendations for Pneumococcal and Zoster Vaccines Available Through Immunize.org 
Help Counter COVID-19 Misinformation:
Encourage Boosters for the Immunocompromised
ACP's two video series on YouTube help combat misinformation and educate the public about COVID-19 and vaccinations.

These series include: Ask Your Internist, which answers the public's top vaccination-related questions; Physician to Physician Conversations, which shares practical strategies to help physicians build vaccine confidence and address patient concerns in the age of misinformation. View new videos about creating a safe space for COVID-19 vaccine conversations with patients and Why Do We Need COVID-19 Boosters. Use these videos to help encourage boosters for the immunocompromised and all eligible patients.
CDC’s FluView Summary Report for Week 11,
Ending March 19, 2022
Key Points:

  • The weekly summary indicates that influenza activity is increasing in most parts of the country
  • The majority of influenza viruses detected are A(H3N2)
  • H3N2 viruses identified so far this season are genetically closely related to the vaccine virus
  • The percentage of outpatient visits due to respiratory illness increased slightly this week but is still below the baseline
  • Influenza is contributing to levels of respiratory illness, but other respiratory viruses are also circulating
  • The relative contribution of influenza varies by location
  • CDC estimates that, so far this season, there have been at least 3.1 million flu illnesses, 31,000 hospitalizations, and 1,800 deaths from flu
Featured Articles and Resources
CDC Recommends Additional Boosters for Certain Individuals
Data continues to show the importance of vaccination and booster doses to protect individuals both from infection and severe outcomes of COVID-19. For adults and adolescents eligible for a first booster dose, these shots are safe and provide substantial benefits. During the recent Omicron surge, those who were boosted were 21-times less likely to die from COVID-19 compared to those who were unvaccinated and 7-times less likely to be hospitalized. CDC continues to recommend that all eligible adults, adolescents, and children five (5) and older be up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, which includes getting an initial booster when eligible.

Following FDA’s regulatory action, on March 29th, the CDC updated its recommendations to allow certain immunocompromised individuals and people over the age of 50 who received an initial booster dose at least four (4) months ago to be eligible for another mRNA booster to increase their protection against severe disease from COVID-19. Separately and in addition, based on newly published data, adults who received a primary vaccine and booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at least (4) months ago may now receive a second booster dose using an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

These updated recommendations acknowledge the increased risk of severe disease in certain populations including those who are elderly or over the age of 50 with multiple underlying conditions, along with the currently available data on the vaccine and booster effectiveness.
VBI Vaccines Announces PreHevbrio™ is Now Available in the United States for the Prevention of Hepatitis B in Adults
VBI Vaccines Inc. (VBI), a biopharmaceutical company driven by immunology in the pursuit of powerful prevention and treatment of disease, announced on March 29th that PreHevbrio™ [Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant)] is now available in the United States for the prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in adults age 18 years and older. PreHevbrio was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 30th, 2021, and is the only approved 3-antigen HBV vaccine for adults.

“We are proud to announce the U.S. availability of PreHevbrio, a significant milestone in our effort to be part of the fight against hepatitis B,” said Jeff Baxter, VBI’s President, and CEO. “This launch coincides with the swell of momentum following the ACIP’s November 2021 unanimous vote to move to a universal HBV vaccination recommendation for all adults aged 19 to 59 and its February 2022 decision to include PreHevbrio in its list of recommended adult HBV vaccines. With new guidelines and new tools, U.S. healthcare providers have more support than ever to increase vaccination rates and protect more of their adult patients against HBV.”
Collaboration Produces Universal Flu Vaccine Candidate
Although vaccination arguably represents the most effective way to prevent Influenza, current vaccination strategies suffer from certain limitations, chief of which require current influenza vaccines to be updated annually to match circulating strains. This hurdle results in low vaccination take-up rates and poor coverage due to inaccurate prediction of circulating strains. Therefore, broadly protective, "universal" flu vaccines that do not need to be updated annually have been pursued.

The highly conserved M2e peptide is a leading universal flu candidate; this peptide shares a conserved sequence with nearly all known human Influenza A strains. However, its limited ability to trigger a strong and long-lasting immune response has represented a significant roadblock in its clinical development.

Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and Monash University in Melbourne have published a paper in the latest issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, where they successfully leveraged on a novel vaccine platform to deliver M2e to immune cells. This allowed them to prove that a single shot immunization containing M2e was able to trigger long-lasting immune responses that could protect effectively against multiple strains of the flu.
Research Shows Social Media Behavior Could Inform
How to Increase Vaccine Rates
The first study to analyze social media to understand attitudes towards the Covid-19 vaccine identifies the link between social media engagement behavior and vaccine take-up. The research explored 10,000 public interactions with World Health Organization (WHO) vaccine communications on Facebook.

Seven patterns of engagement behavior towards the vaccine were identified by academics Dr. Jaylan Azer from the University of Glasgow Adam Smith Business School and Dr. Matthew Alexander from Strathclyde Business School.

The identified patterns of engagement are:

  • Advocating
  • Proposing
  • Inquiring
  • Skeptical
  • Sarcastic
  • Rebutting
  • Dispiriting

Their work developed a framework of relationships between these patterns and our current understanding of vaccine acceptance, hesitancy, and refusal.
Resources to Increase Adult Immunizations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has several great resources for healthcare providers and vaccinators! Below are just a few of the many resources that providers can distribute to adult patients. Be sure to click the button below to be redirected to the CDC's Adult Vaccination Resources page.