National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), held in August, is an annual observance to promote the importance of vaccination for people of all ages. To facilitate local support of this national awareness effort, the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) developed a communications and messaging toolkit for each week of NIAM 2017:
- Back to School (July/August)
- Babies and young children (July 31-August 6)
- Pregnant women (August 7-13)
- Adults (August 14-20)
- Preteen/Teen (August 21-27)
The toolkits include key messages, vaccine information, sample news releases and drop-in articles, sample messages for Facebook and Twitter (#NIAM17), and web links and resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other partner organizations. You can download the toolkits individually by clicking the themes above, or access the entire month-long toolkit here. Digital graphics (e.g., website, social media) and print materials are also available for download.
In addition to the resources from NPHIC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information and resources to help local health departments and healthcare providers educate communities and partners about the importance of vaccinations:
- Save the Date: Making Effective Vaccine Recommendations to Parents (Webinar)
- Medscape Expert Commentary: “Providing Health Care Providers and Doctors with Tools to Approach Vaccines with Vaccine Hesitant Parents (requires free account to access)
- Animated graphics and infographics
- PowerPoint Template: How Your Childcare Program Can Support Immunization
The range of suggested activities ensures that any local health department, regardless of size or resource availability, can take action. If you plan to get involved in NIAM, check out this list of 10 ways to get involved and complete this online form to share your activities.
