Announcement: National Influenza Vaccination Week — December 6–12, 2015

Weekly
December 4, 2015 / 64(47);1319

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, state and local health departments, and other partners will observe National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) during December 6–12, 2015, with educational and promotional activities across the country.

Beginning in 2005, NIVW was established to highlight the importance of annual influenza vaccination and to foster greater use of influenza vaccine during the months of December, January, and beyond. As of November 13, 2015, approximately 133 million doses of 2015–2016 seasonal influenza vaccine have been distributed to vaccination providers in the United States (1).

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends influenza vaccination for all persons aged ≥6 months (2), with rare exceptions. Influenza vaccination is especially important for persons in certain groups who are at higher risk for influenza-related complications. Those high-risk groups include children aged <5 years, but especially children aged <2 years; persons with certain chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, asthma, and diabetes; pregnant women; and adults aged ≥65 years. Health care personnel are at risk for acquiring influenza and transmitting it to their patients (3).

Information about event-specific educational materials, web tools, and CDC's planned activities for NIVW is available at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/index.htm, and general materials are available at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/freeresources. Additional information and resources for health care professionals and patients are available at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/.

Influenza vaccination coverage estimates for 2014–2015 are available at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview. Interim vaccination coverage estimates for 2015–2016 will be released during NIVW.