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A summary of presentations from the weekly Summit partner webinars

September 30, 2021 – The latest Summit summary

2021–2022 Influenza Vaccination Campaign – Kathleen LaPorte (CDC)

Kathleen LaPorte, MPH, health communication specialist, Influenza Division, CDC, gave a presentation on CDC’s 2021–2022 influenza vaccination campaign.

There was historically low levels of flu virus activity last flu season, and a lot of uncertainty going into this flu season regarding how much influenza virus may circulate. The CDC will continue efforts to stress the importance of the flu vaccination this year and the uncertainty of every flu season. As with every flu season, the CDC will be implementing the “Take 3 to Fight Flu” 3-pronged flu prevention communications platform that has been used for over a decade. This concept and language emphasize the different preventative actions based on our stage of flu season we are in. Early on, the focus is on vaccination. Once activity is high, vaccination is still promoted but messages escalate around preventative actions and treatment.

CDC Recommends You “Take 3 to Fight Flu”

There are three key messages to “Take 3 to Fight Flu”:

  1. Take time to get a flu vaccine
  2. Take recommended everyday preventive actions
  3. Take antiviral drugs to treat flu if prescribed

The 2021–22 Season Flu Campaign

“I Get It” is a new campaign in collaboration with Weber-Shadwick that targets people between the ages of 40–64 with chronic medical conditions and focuses on the reasons why people get the flu vaccine.

CDC is also going into its second year of “No Time for Flu,” a campaign in partnership with AMA, and the Ad Council. This campaign focuses on Black and Hispanic adults of the age range 25–54, with the message that no one has time to be sick with the flu. “No time for Flu” has comprehensive TV, digital, and out of home advertising with the Ad Council’s new creative sub-campaign, “Flu FOMO”.

“I Get It” Digital Campaign

The “I Get It” campaign focuses on reasons why individuals should get vaccinated. Risks increase for those with chronic underlying medical conditions, and this campaign emphasizes the serious flu complications that can arise from catching the flu virus. The message is that the best way to prevent getting sick and staying out of the hospital is to get vaccinated.

Data from CDC’s flu hospital surveillance network (Flu-Serv NET) shows that 9 out of 10 flu hospitalizations are among people with at least one underlying health condition. Flu vaccination is associated with lower rates of some cardiac events among those who have had a cardiac event in the past year. The vaccine can also reduce the risk of flu-related worsening of COPD (requiring hospitalization), and vaccination is associated with reduced hospitalizations in people with diabetes and chronic lung disease. Beyond messaging associated with chronic medical conditions, the campaign stresses protective benefits of the vaccine toward family and community members.

The tactics for this campaign include a mix of partnership, paid advertising, the use of social media, and assets like downloadable toolkits for partners to share on their own platforms.

You can get involved in this campaign by sharing CDC’s customizable resources and social media photo frames and following CDC on Instagram and sharing your own reasons to get vaccinated. It’s important for trusted healthcare and public health professionals to get involved in the messaging especially when there is so much health misinformation out there right now. 

“No Time for Flu” Campaign

This is the second year for the “No Time for Flu” campaign from the CDC, AMA, and Ad Council. The campaign is undergoing re-vamping and is scheduled to launch on October 12. The focus of the campaign is prevention of the flu in order to prevent you from missing important moments such as family events, life events, and activities.

The campaign toolkit is available on GetMyFluShot.org. This toolkit can be downloaded and shared.

Tactics for the campaign will include social media messaging, media outreach to the Hispanic and Black communities, donated media across video, digital, and audio channels, paid digital messaging, point-of-care and out-of-home messaging, and business-to-business messaging. There will be resources for download soon in the Ad Council’s toolkit.

Flu FOMO – New Ad Council “Sub-Campaign”

Expanding on the “No Time for Flu” campaign is the new Ad Council sub-campaign, “Flu FOMO.” FOMO, or “Fear of Missing Out” focuses on getting vaccinated to prevent missing out because you are sick with the flu. The toolkit for this sub-campaign will be available on the Ad Council website on October 12.

Seasonal Flu Vaccination Campaign Timeline

  • Currently, social media campaigns are encouraging people to get their flu shots, and this will continue through flu season.
  • October 7: NFID will give a press conference with Dr. Walensky as the key note speaker to officially launch the CDC seasonal flu campaign.
  • October 7: CDC – AAP COCA Call – AAP will discuss influenza and COVID-19 vaccines in children
  • October 12: Ad council will be launching their campaign
  • October 15 will be the first full FluView weekly report with social and media outreach
  • December 5–11: National Influenza Vaccination Week

Flu Vaccine Finder will be on Vaccines.gov Soon

The Flu Vaccine Finder helps locate flu vaccines and can now be found on vaccines.gov, however, it will be at least another week or two before the Vaccine Finder website will include the flu vaccine. Currently, the Vaccine Finder only shows where to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Where to find CDC Resources:

Campaign and Social Media Toolkits:

Key Consumer Web Resources:

Videos

Multi-Language Resources:

Contact Information

Erin Burns (flu vaccination lead) – eub5@cdc.gov

Kathleen LaPorte –  wng2@cdc.gov

Questions

Question

The vaccine finder also used to find all adult vaccines. Is that feature going to be added back when it’s on vaccine.gov?

Cynthia Jorgensen

The plan for the vaccine finder is to focus on flu and COVID-19 vaccines. We are not adding other vaccines or making that decision until we get through the pandemic. There is talk that this functionality will be focused on being prepared for public health emergencies and may move away from being able to find all vaccines. That final decision has not been made yet.

Question

Are you making intentional changes to flu vaccine messaging as a result of COVID-19? Is the message that flu is also deadly less impactful because COVID-19 has been so devastating?

Kathleen LaPorte

Cynthia’s presentation should answer this question.

Question

Partners are upset that the Flu Finder has not been launched yet. When will it be launched?

Cynthia Jorgensen

Our intention was to have everything up and running by now. It was briefly launched and we found some quality issues that didn’t appear until after it launched so we felt it was important to pull it down and keep it down until it was fully functional before going back up. We didn’t want people to get frustrated and not go back to the site.

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Pulse Poll – Flu Spotlight: National Survey of U.S. Adults August 2021 – Cynthia Jorgensen (CDC)

Cynthia Jorgensen, DrPH, associate director for communication, NCIRD, CDC, gave a presentation on the Pulse Poll––a national survey of U.S. Adults.

Our goal for the Pulse Poll survey was to try to understand the sentiment among U.S. consumers age 18+ around flu vaccinations and COVID-19 booster shots, as well as breakthrough infections and other topics relative to COVID-19.

Methods

KRC Research conducted an online panel survey of a national opt-in panel of approximately one thousand U.S. adults age 18+. The survey was conducted August 25–27, 2021, was seven minutes in length, and the thousand people were randomly drawn. The data was weighted based on key demographic variables to reflect the adult population based on U.S. Census data.

Results: Flu Shot Intent This Year – “I intend to get a flu shot this season.”

When asked if people were going to get their flu shot this year, 25% of people who were not vaccinated against COVID-19 said they would get the flu shot. Whereas 70% of people who were vaccinated against COVID-19 plan to get the flu shot this year.

Results: Flu Shot Last Season – “I got a flu shot last season.”

For those who got the flu shot last year, the answers were consistent with those intending to get the flu shot this year. 26% of people who were not vaccinated against COVID-19 said they got the flu shot last year. Whereas 70% of people who were vaccinated against COVID-19 got the flu shot last year.

Results: Never Get a Flu Shot – “I never get a flu shot.”

When asked if they’ve ever gotten a flu shot, 47% of those not vaccinated for COVID-19 said they have never had a flu show, compared to 22% of those vaccinated for COVID-19.

Results: Worse Flu Season this Year – “I expect the flu season this year to be worse than usual.”

For those who intend to get the flu shot this year, 40% think that this year the flu will be worse than usual and 30% do not agree with the statement. For those not intending to get the flu shot this year, 24% expect a worse flu season and 34% do not. The rest are undecided.

Results: COVID-19 is Like Getting the Flu – “Getting COVID-19 is like getting the Flu.”

For those who do not intend to get a flu shot, 35% do not think COVID-19 is like getting the flu and 29% think it is like getting the flu. For those who intend to get the flu shot, 54% do not think COVID-19 is like getting the flu and 22% believe it is. The rest are undecided.

Results: COVID-19 vs. Flu Severity – “COVID-19 is no more dangerous than the flu.”

For those who do not intend to get a flu shot, 33% do not think COVID-19 is more dangerous than the flu and 40% think COVID-19 is more dangerous than getting the flu. For those who intend to get the flu shot, 28% do not think COVID-19 is more dangerous than the flu and 58% believe it is. The rest are undecided.

Results: Willingness to Get a Flu Shot at Same Time as a COVID-19 Booster – “I am willing to get a flu shot at the same time as a COVID-19 booster shot.”

This question only applied to those people who were already vaccinated against COVID-19. For those who do not intend to get a flu shot, 12% would get a COVID-19 booster at the same time as the flu shot and 73% would not. For those who intend to get the flu shot, 71% would get a COVID-19 booster at the same time as the flu shot and 11% would not.

Research Limitations

This is not a probability survey and therefore is not generalizable to the U.S. population. This is also only a snapshot in time, as many of the survey topics and opinions are always changing. Therefore, repeat surveys need to be conducted.

Questions

Question

Will you comment on the latest info/thought on the upcoming winter season with both COVID-19 and Flu viruses circulating?

Kathleen LaPorte

In any season, flu is unpredictable. Last season we had extremely low flu activity, but now we are seeing other respiratory viruses like RSV circulating. We don’t know what will happen with flu activity, but we can do our best to prevent the possibility of a severe fly season by spreading the message that everyone 6 months of age and older should be vaccinated.

IAC offers a handout, Communicating the Benefits of Influenza Vaccine during COVID-19, with tips on how to talk to people about the uncertainty of the flu and why last year was so unusual.

Question

Are these data public to non-Summit partners? For example, can they be shared on social media?

Cynthia Jorgensen

You all are getting this fresh off the press. We would love to have it disseminated in social media, but we want to let our flu partners work on what messages they would like and share first.

Question

What is the differences in the risk-benefit to the flu shot vs the covid shot?

Kathleen LaPorte

It’s important not to mix these messages too much. We have many years of research and data on flu vaccines. That’s a point you can emphasize to people. We also have studies that look at the benefits of flu vaccination, so we can pull out specific data points on vaccines saving lives. We have this advantage with flu and it’s important to emphasize flu research without undermining COVID-19 vaccination.  The flu data should stand on its own.

Cynthia Jorgensen

In addition, when we were starting some of the research on the COVID-19 vaccines, we used flu vaccine in terms of its effectiveness. People are very comfortable and understood that flu vaccine not 100% effective, which is the same with the COVID-19 vaccine. With the COVID-19 vaccine we hear a lot of reasons people are not getting it and a lot of us in the behavioral area are concerned that people are latching on to these reasons. It’s very complicated with people who are not getting the COVID-19 shot, and it’s hard to understand the mindset. The good news is the majority of people who got the COVID-19 shot are also intending on getting the flu shot.


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Long-Term Care COVID-19 Vaccine Access – Amy Parker-Fiebelkorn (CDC)

Amy Parker-Fiebelkorn, MSN, MPH, lead for the Long-term-care Team, Vaccine Task Force, CDC, gave a presentation on COVID-19 vaccine access in long term care (LTC) settings.

COVID-19 Vaccine Access for LTC

It’s essential that those who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, especially those in LTC settings (e.g., nursing homes, assisted living, residential care communities, group homes, and senior housing) that request assistance in accessing COVID-19 vaccines for their residents and staff receive the support they need. Depending on the needs of the staff and residents, vaccines may be offered to those in LTC settings either by local pharmacies/pharmacy retail clinics or on-site clinics.

Why is this approach different from the winter 2020–21 rollout?

This fall CDC is taking a different approach from the initial rollout last winter because vaccine supply is not constrained like it was last winter. Many LTC settings already have strategies and partnerships in place in order to access COVID-19 vaccines. CDC also expanded the number of pharmacy partners that do on-site clinics. Last winter there were two main pharmacies––CVS and Walgreens––that conducted all the on-site vaccine clinics. Now there are 21 major pharmacy partners offering on-site clinics.

There’s also convenient access to COVID-19 vaccines in communities with over 40,000 retail pharmacy locations where people are able to access vaccines. The approach this fall is designed to ensure the needs of different types of LTC settings are met. Needs vary on the population able to leave the facility, geographic location, the size of the facility, etc.

COVID-19 Vaccine Access in Long-Term Care Settings is a CDC webpage that offers links specifically for LTC administrators and managers as well as a subpage for jurisdictions to get helpful information about accessing vaccination services. CDC has added a page that provides direct contact information for all the pharmacy partners.

CDC Actions

Outreach to Jurisdictions

Outreach to jurisdictions has included listening to readiness sessions with HHS regions, as well as follow-up with some states/jurisdictions that scored low on the LTC question on the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) survey to prepare them to be first-line safety net support for LTC settings. There is also a jurisdictional checklist/readiness survey on booster vaccine access planning, a Skilled Nursing Facility verification survey, and NHSN weekly monitoring.

Outreach to Pharmacy partners

There are weekly calls with all 21 pharmacy partners to ensure readiness and to make sure they are ready to provide clinics (and prioritization of LTC settings).

Outreach to LTC settings/LTC partners/Federal partners

There was an email blast including a survey to indicate a need for additional assistance that went to 37,000 LTC settings. There are also regular calls with LTC partners and Federal Partners.

Additional CDC support

CDC developed the website COVID-19 Vaccine Access in Long-term Care Settings for additional support. CDC will also connect LTC settings with pharmacy partners as an additional safety net support.

Long Term Care Providers Actions

Vaccination in the Local Community

LTC providers can let residents and staff know that they can receive a COVID-19 vaccine at an existing vaccine site such as a nearby pharmacy or healthcare provider’s office if they are willing to travel outside the LTC setting.

Vaccination Onsite in an LTC Setting

LTC managers can arrange for COVID-19 vaccinations at an on-site clinic by contacting a local or retail pharmacy or other provider. This may be the best option for some LTC residents.

If LTCs are having difficulties identifying a pharmacy or other partner, they should contact their state or local health department’s immunization program for support. CDC support is also available as the safety net through CDC-INFO helpline (1-800-232-4636).

Jurisdiction Actions

State and local jurisdictions play a critical role as the first-level safety net support in ensuring LTC settings have the vaccine access and support they need. Most states have been actively developing a booster rollout plan and have been communicating with LTC settings they worked with for primary vaccinations. They also have been working on identifying new sites that might require assistance/additional assistance.

CDC has been emphasizing that if a jurisdiction has been contacted by an LTC provider, they can review the options for coordinating access to COVID-19 vaccines with them. Both state and jurisdictions can use the Tiberius app to submit a request for CDC assistance. CDC support is available if an immunization program is unable to connect an LTC setting with a provider.

LTC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Reporting

CDC will also be conducting data monitoring of these efforts. Pharmacy partners will submit patient vaccination data to jurisdiction immunization systems (IIS) and also to the CDC for adults 65+. They will also collect facility data for onsite clinics which will be shared with the CDC and jurisdictions through the Tiberius app.

NHSN will send weekly data on the CMS-funded skilled nursing facilities and COVID-19 vaccination, including data elements on booster/additional doses, and weekly reports to the jurisdictions. Jurisdictions will have visibility on the progress of LTC requests sent to CDC as part of USG “Safety Net”.

For more information you may contact: eocevent494@cdc.gov

Questions

Question

What is being done for the elderly that live at home or are confined to home where most of our elderly, especially minority elderly are found?

Amy Parker-Fiebelkorn

We have a large, funded partnership with the Administration for Community Living that is focused specifically on COVID-19 vaccination of older adults and persons with disabilities who might otherwise have access issues. The Administration for Community Living is receiving $100 million for vaccine-related work, and they work directly with all of the different area agencies on aging. They also partner with the Meals on Wheels program and work with others in the community to reach these individuals.


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Updates to COVID-19 Epidemiology and Vaccination Coverage – Myrna Charles (CDC)

Myrna Charles, DO, MBA, MPH gave a presentation on COVID-19 epidemiology and COVID-19 vaccine coverage through use of the COVID-19 Data Tracker.

COVID-19 Cases and Deaths

Daily Trends in Number of COVID-19 Cases in the U.S.: As of September 28 there have been over 43 million cases of COVID-19reported in the U.S. There is currently a surge in cases second only to the cases seen in the previous winter. There are about 21,000 cases a day.

COVID-19 Weekly Cases Per 100,000 Persons by Age Group (March 1, 2020–September 27, 2021): As of September 27 the percentage of reported cases is greatest in children 17 years and younger. The number of cases in children is on the rise, while in the past two months the case incidence in people 65+ has decreased.

Daily Trends in Number of COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S.: The seven-day average shows 1,500 deaths/day, which has increased by 1% in deaths in comparison to the last week.

COVID-19 Weekly Deaths Per 100,000 by Age Group, December 29, 2019–September 25, 2021: Throughout the pandemic the highest mortality rate has been in the 65+ age group. As of now, the incidence rate has dropped in the over 65 population, however the death count and mortality rate has continued to be more prevalent in those over 65.

COVID-19 Weekly Cases Per 100,000 Population by Race/Ethnicity March 1, 2020–September 27, 2021: CDC is working on getting more data on this because the data only represents geographic areas that have contributed data on race and ethnicity. For the reported cases, at the beginning of July 2021 the highest rate of infection was among American Indian/Alaskan Native communities.

COVID-19 Hospitalizations

New Admissions of Patients with Confirmed COVID-19, U.S., August 1, 2021–September 26, 2021: The Delta variant became predominant in July of 2021 and since then we have seen another surge of infections.

Weekly Trends in the COVID-19 Associated Hospitalization Rates in the U.S., August 1, 2020–September 27, 2021: There has been an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations with all age groups, with those 70+ having the highest rates of hospitalization. The rate of hospitalizations in children is lower than in adults, but the weekly rate of hospitalization in children has increased in those 11 years and under. This is the highest rate of hospitalizations in children, most likely due to the start of the school year.

COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs) 30-Day Percent Positivity by State/Territory: COVID-19 NAATs shows the percent positivity of infection. The seven-day average has increased from the previous week.

COVID-19 Variant Proportions, June 20, 2021–September 25, 2021: The delta variant represents 99% of the sequence lineages and is more than two times as contagious than previous variants. Currently the only variant of concern being seen in the U.S. is the Delta variant.

COVID-19 Vaccines Administered

Covid-19 Vaccines Administered: As of September 30, 2021, there have been 391,922,662 COVID-19 vaccines administered; 63.1% of people aged 12 and older, 65% of those 18 and older, and 82% of those 65 and older have been vaccinated. This does not count booster doses.

Daily Trends in Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine Administered by Day Over Time: We have had a peak of over 4.5 million doses delivered in the spring of 2021, but this has declined over the summer. The rate of vaccination has increased for the week, but overall has decreased for the past several weeks.

COVID-19 Vaccines Coverage

COVID-19 Reported Cases per 100,000 Population (Last 7 Days) and Percent of Total Population Fully Vaccinated, September 21, 2021–September 27, 2021: There are some jurisdictions that do not provide vaccine coverage data or complete data. Data shows the county level view of COVID-19 vaccination coverage, and the number of people vaccinated per every 100,000 in the last 7 days. By checking the map you can find vaccine coverage for the week by population.

Percent of People Fully Vaccinated and Cases Per 100,000 Persons by AGE, December 28, 2020–September 27, 2021: Children under 12 who are not vaccine eligible have no vaccine coverage and as age increases, generally vaccine coverage increases. People 75 years of age and older have coverage of 85% with an incidence rate of cases below 7%.

Maps of Community Transmission and Percent of Total Population Vaccinated in the U.S., by County, September 21, 2021–September 27, 2021: The COVID-19 transmission risk is determined by the vaccine coverage by county, which can be found weekly on the map.

Updates to COVID-19 Epidemiology and COVID-19 Vaccines – Summary

  • Rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations have decreased in adults. However, weekly rates of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have recently increased in children ages 11 years and younger.
  • Currently, the Delta variant is the only variant classified as a variant of concern (VOC) in the United States
  • COVID-19 vaccines continue to maintain high protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death
  • To maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, get vaccinated as soon as you can and wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.


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ANNOUNCEMENTS

L.J Tan (IAC)

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), with funding support from Seqirus, is offering a limited quantity of FREE Flu Vaccine buttons and stickers in English and Spanish to support your flu vaccine promotion efforts this season. To receive these supplies at no cost, please PRE-ORDER your buttons and stickers now. Delivery (also at no cost) is anticipated by early October. Order the flu buttons and stickers.

IAC hosted two influenza webinars this September that can now be viewed online.

We would like to welcome having more NAIIS member organizations to add their support to the Call to Action on adult immunization. Access the call to action and click on the top righthand button to add your organization.

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