The Doc Is In: Time to Talk Vaccination
By Dr. Michael Greenberg
Vaccination. The topic of vaccination has become a part of our everyday lives during the past two years. Vaccination is central to how we work and play and is front and center in how we approach our personal health care. Prior to the availability of vaccines for COVID-19, many of us worked from home, attended school through Zoom, and may have forgone routine health care to limit exposure to it and other communicable diseases.
Now, as the daily average of new COVID-19 cases continues to decline and we reunite with colleagues, friends, and family, we must also remember to reconnect with our healthcare professionals for preventative care, including ensuring that our routine vaccinations are up-to-date. There is no better reminder of this than World Immunization Week, which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), “aims to highlight the collective action needed and to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease.”
In recognition of World Immunization Week and as a reminder as to why immunizations are so incredibly important for personal and public health, I’m excited to announce the launch of our new educational videos series, “The Doc Is In.” The series focuses on the importance of vaccination through the voices of our medical directors, who previously were practicing healthcare professionals, and share a passion of helping protect people from vaccine-preventable diseases.
My colleague, Dr. Corey Robertson, Senior Director of Scientific and Medical Affairs at Sanofi, kicks off the first installment which is focused on meningococcal disease, and discusses its impact, who is at increased risk, and how vaccination can help prevent it. This is a critical topic since anyone at any age can get meningococcal disease, with teens and young adults being among those who are at increased risk. For the best defense against meningococcal disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends routine MenACWY vaccination for adolescents starting at ages 11-12 years, with a second dose at 16 years of age.
Strengthening awareness and education is a key first step to increasing vaccination rates among people of all ages, which is what “The Doc Is In” aims to do. When we each do our part, whether that is a wellness visit to receive an immunization, encouraging family and friends to catch up on vaccinations, sharing a social media update about a recent immunization, and more, it can make all the difference for personal and public health. Stay tuned for additional videos to come as part of this series.