The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its partners have released new resources related to the 2019 adult and child/adolescent immunization schedules.
- CDC published the 2019 adult and child/adolescent immunization schedules on its website.
- The American College of Physicians released clinical guidelines in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
- American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement.
CDC Redesigns Immunization Schedules Website
You’ll note that CDC redesigned the Immunization Schedule website to allow for easier access to information and a broader range of immunization schedule-related materials, including resources for healthcare providers, parents, and adults. Examples of changes and improvements include:
- The adult and child/adolescent schedule pages immediately bring up the web version of the schedules. Users will be able to toggle back and forth between different tables within the schedules.
- On the electronic version of the table, there is an “info” icon beside each vaccine on the schedule. Clicking on the icon takes users to vaccination information for clinicians, which gives the user not only the full ACIP recommendation but also storage and handling, administration, and other relevant information.
The schedules pages have a variety of tabs across the top of each page. The tabs:
- Allow users to toggle between the schedule tables
- Identify current changes to this year’s schedules. In the coming months, this tab will change to a visual guide showing users how to properly use all schedule tables.
- Allow health care providers to access additional resources. This new page provides relevant links to VISs, storage and handling, travel vaccines, and other information.
On some pages within the site, tabs allow users to:
- Access the parent-friendly schedule for children and adolescents
- Access information and resources for parents
- Access adult patient resources
- Download the schedules app
The current links you have to the schedule pages will remain the same. The following pages are new:
Because of the complexity of the pneumococcal vaccination recommendations, CDC also offers a pneumococcal vaccination app. Information on the app is available on the healthcare provider resource page.
Tools for Patients and Parents
The redesigned schedules website includes the following changes to the interactive schedule tools available:
- The adult easy-to-read schedule is no longer available. However, the new adult patient resources page will include the adult self-assessment tool (formerly known as the Adult Quiz), as well as information about vaccines that may be needed based on age or health condition.
- The childhood vaccine assessment tool (formerly known as the Child Quiz) remains available as well. However, the “interactive scheduler” is no longer available. We have eliminated the duplicity of multiple “schedulers” for parents. This change ensures a simpler user experience for parents who are looking to find out which vaccines their child needs.