Farewell, readers. After 30 years as executive director of the
Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), I will be retiring at the
end of June. I leave IAC in the best of hands. Our deputy director,
Dr. Kelly Moore, will be assuming the leadership of IAC on July 1.
On this occasion of my final column of
Technically Speaking, it seems the perfect time to give you a
parting gift. With my deepest appreciation for your dedication to
immunization, here is my "Top Ten" list of favorite locations on
IAC's website,
www.immunize.org. These locations just might become your
favorites as well!
Background on www.immunize.org
IAC's website for healthcare professionals, www.immunize.org, was
launched in 1995 as a pioneer immunization site on the World Wide
Web. When you entered the term "immunization" into "AltaVista," the
internet search engine of the day, you would get 10 results. The
Immunization Action Coalition was one of them. My, how things have
changed! Twenty-six years later, immunize.org remains in the top 10
Google "immunization" search results – but has been joined by more
than 400 million other listings. Today, immunize.org is the
nation's premier nonprofit immunization website for healthcare
professionals, averaging 30,000 visits each day with visitors from
nearly 200 countries each month. The IAC educational materials
available on immunize.org have 3.5 million downloads per year.
My "Top Ten" list on www.immunize.org
Over the past 26 years, I have guided the content of immunize.org
based on my experiences working in clinics and community-based
immunization sites following the measles epidemic of 1989–1990. IAC
has also received invaluable content suggestions from public health
and private sector providers. Based on this experience, here are my
"Top Ten" favorite places to know about and bookmark on
immunize.org.
- IAC Home Page at
www.immunize.org – This is your
gateway to the wealth of information found on IAC's website. A
couple of ways to find what you're looking for include the
"Favorites" tab located on the upper left corner of the page and
the index at the bottom of every page. Not finding what you need?
Just enter your search term in the Google search box. In short,
this page is your key to unlocking IAC's treasure trove of
practical and up-to-date immunization information.
- IAC Express at
www.immunize.org/express – Every week, IAC Express keeps
53,000 healthcare professionals informed about new and updated
CDC recommendations, vaccine licensures, VISs and their
translations, and educational materials from IAC, CDC, and
others. If you're not yet on our email list, be sure to subscribe
today at
www.immunize.org/subscribe.
- Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) at
www.immunize.org/vis – Find all of CDC's VISs in English,
as well as translations of these important documents in up to 40
languages.
- Handouts (ready-to-print) at
www.Immunize.org/handouts – View and download more than
300 of IAC's immunization education materials for clinic staff
and patients. Search by topic, vaccine, or language. View the
alphabetical listing of all IAC print materials on one page.
- Ask the Experts at
www.immunize.org/askexperts – A hands-down favorite of
our visitors! Read IAC experts' practical answers to more than
1,000 technical questions about vaccines, their administration,
storage and handling, and more.
- ACIP Recommendations at
www.immunize.org/acip – Access links to all of CDC's
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
recommendations dating back to 1991. These may be viewed in
either PDF or HTML format.
- Package Inserts at
www.immunize.org/fda – Access links to package inserts
for all U.S.-licensed vaccines, as well as prescribing
information for vaccines with Emergency Use Authorization status.
- Clinic Tools at
www.immunize.org/clinic – Find key resources from IAC,
CDC, and other immunization organizations to help with vaccine
administration, storage and handling, contraindication screening,
and much more.
- Standing Orders Templates at
www.immunize.org/standing-orders – Use these templates to
help expedite vaccination for children, teens, or adults. You may
use them "as is" or modify them to suit the needs of your work
setting. The page also includes links to CDC's standing orders
for COVID-19 vaccines.
- COVID-19 Vaccines at
www.immunize.org/covid-19 – This web page facilitates
access to key COVID-19 vaccine resources from CDC and other
partners.
So, there it is. I hope you find my "Top Ten" list helpful in your
work. Thank you for letting me be part of your world via the
Vaccine Update for Healthcare Professionals since 2010. And know
that IAC will remain your committed partner in immunization
education and delivery for many years to come.
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This page was updated on
July 4, 2021. |
This page was reviewed on
July 4, 2021. |
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