CDC immunization schedule lacks clinician communication tools

CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health PolicyJan 11 2024

In an editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine, CUNY SPH Distinguished Lecturer Scott Ratzan, Senior Scholar Ken Rabin, and colleagues call for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to "raise its persuasive communications game" on adult immunization to clinicians and the public. They argue that disseminating scientific information alone will not suffice in the present environment of disinformation and low trust in public health.

The editorial is in response to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule, unveiled in an article in the same journal edition. The authors argue that the schedule misses an opportunity to provide physicians with useful communication guidance around adult vaccines and to address co-administration of influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 vaccines.

Ratzan and team say the recent formation of the Council for Quality Health Communication and the Coalition for Trust in Health and Science, which seek to advance health communication using evidence-based communication and media technologies, is a testament to the need to upgrade health communication.

"Simply 'informing' people about immunization schedule changes is not enough," the authors write. "We need a coordinated, national effort to apply our understanding of current attitudes toward vaccination and implement new health communication strategies that use a full palette of techniques to build vaccine literacy and encourage greater acceptance."