Vaccinations, Emergency Preparedness, and COVID-19

This month is National Emergency Preparedness month, which is an annual September observance to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies.

COVID-19-Vaccine

A leading Healthy People 2030 objective focuses on making sure individuals, communities, and organizations are prepared for disease outbreaks, medical emergencies and other public health disasters. Individuals and communities should be prepared for a public health emergency because it can happen at any time, and being prepared can save lives. We recently experienced the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020 resulted in over a million deaths and 6 million hospitalizations in the U.S. due to the deadly international virus outbreak.

Vaccinations, such as COVID-19, hepatitis, seasonal influenza, among others, prevent serious disease outbreaks and ensure emergency preparedness. A related Healthy People 2030 objective centers on increasing vaccination rates. More specifically, the objective concentrates on ensuring infants and children receive recommended vaccinations because some U.S. communities have low coverage rates and are at a greater risk of outbreaks. In addition, Healthy People 2030 also measures adolescents and the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine to prevent cancer and zones in on older adults and vaccinations to prevent pneumonia and flu.

Healthy People 2030 shows the following vaccine rates:

Vaccine Measures	Current %	Target
Children who receive 0 doses by age 2	1.1% (2017)	1.3%
Adolescents who receive HPV vaccine	58.5% (2021)	80%
People who receive annual seasonal influenza	49.8% (2020-21)	70%

Strategies such as requiring vaccination for children in school as well as providing vaccine education, vaccine reminders, and most of all making it easier to get vaccines, such as at a pharmacy or within a school or workplace, are the key to reducing infectious disease rates according to Healthy People 2030.

The Latest COVID-19 Booster Recommendations

Are you aware of the latest COVID-19 vaccine recommendations? As of July 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says anyone 6 years and older should get 1 updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of whether they’ve received the original COVID-19 vaccines. There are additional requirements for older adults, immunocompromised individuals, and children under 6 years old as noted below.

Coverage Type	COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
People 65 years and older	May get 1 additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine 4 or more months after the 1st updated COVID-19 vaccine
People moderately/ severely immunocompromised	May get 1 additional dose of updated COVID-19 vaccine 2 or more months after the last updated COVID-19 vaccine
Children 6 Months To 5 Years Old	· 6 months to 4 years old: 3 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech · 5 years old: 1 dose of Pfizer-BioNTech OR · 6 months to 5 years old: 2 doses of Moderna

New vaccines expected this fall 2023, as early as this month, to provide protection against the Omicron variant XBB.1.5. To find COVID-19 vaccine locations near you, visit vaccines.gov.

HCD International Led Mass Vaccination Site to Minimize COVID-19 Outbreaks

HCD International was instrumental in controlling COVID-19 outbreaks. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, HCDI was called upon by a county health department to plan and lead a mass vaccination site. The county was experiencing extremely high percentages of COVID-19 outbreaks, the highest in the state. In less than two weeks, HCDI transformed a sports complex into a vaccination center, employing over 125 healthcare professionals and HCDI staff to administer COVID-19 vaccinations safely and efficiently to residents. Over the course of the year, from March 2021 to April 2022, HCDI vaccinated nearly 60,000 residents and exceeded their goal of 50,000.

To learn more about HCD International’s health equity engagement services for state health departments and managed care organizations, visit www.hcdi.com or contact us directly at info@hcdi.com.

What is Healthy People 2030

Originating in 1979, the Healthy People initiative began when the United States Surgeon General Julius Richmond issued the “Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.” Led by the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotions, Healthy People 2030 emerged in 2020 as the fifth iteration addressing the latest public health priorities.

The mission of Healthy People 2030 is “to promote, strengthen, and evaluate the nation’s efforts to improve the health and well-being of all people” with a vision to cultivate a society where all people can achieve their full potential for health and well-being. Healthy People 2030 encompasses 359 core, measurable objectives along with developmental and research objectives, with 23 leading health indicators, to improve health outcomes over the next decade. Objectives include baseline data from no earlier than 2015 and data is extracted three times throughout the duration of the decade. Topics covered span from health conditions to health behaviors, populations, settings and systems, and social determinants of health.

To learn more about Healthy People 2030, visit health.gov/healthypeople.