June 2026

As fireworks light up the skies and communities across Illinois gather to celebrate the Fourth of July, summer offers healthcare providers a meaningful opportunity to connect with patients and close immunization gaps. Routine wellness visits, sports physicals, camp examinations, and other seasonal appointments provide valuable chances to assess vaccination status and ensure patients are protected across the lifespan. Proactive outreach, reminder and recall efforts, and strong vaccine recommendations remain key strategies to improve immunization coverage and reduce missed opportunities. Immunize Illinois Coalition encourages providers to review current immunization schedules, evaluate vaccine inventory needs, and use trusted, evidence-based messaging when speaking with patients and families. During this season of celebration and community, providers play a critical role in safeguarding public health and strengthening protection for individuals and families throughout Illinois.

As our nation prepares to celebrate America’s 250^th anniversary this Independence Day, We The People are excited to share We The People Vax 4^th of July Social Media Kit to help commemorate this historic milestone. The kit includes a patriotic social media graphic highlighting the role vaccination played in protecting America’s fight for independence, a short video produced in partnership with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Vaccine Education Center, and sample social media messages to accompany both the graphic and video. You can download the social media kit here. #WeThePeople

Immunize Illinois Coalition will host “The Next Chapter for Immunize Illinois” on June 25 at 1:30 pm CT. This virtual presentation will update the community on the next steps of the Coalition as well as plans for the coming year.  Register here.

Is Your Agency Hosting a Back-to-School Event? As families prepare for the new school year, Immunize Illinois invites partner agencies, providers, and community organizations to share information about upcoming back-to-school vaccination events and outreach activities. Submitted events will be promoted on the Immunize Illinois Coalition website and social media channels to help connect families with local immunization services. Please include event dates, locations, eligibility requirements, and registration details when submitting information. Send information to Melissa Graven at mgraven@ipha.com with the subject “Back To School”.

Immunize Illinois Coalition will host an in-person meeting at IPHA’s 85^th Annual Public Health Workforce Conference in Springfield, Illinois on September 1-3. The meeting will be “open” to anyone who wants to attend to learn more about Immunize Illinois or become a member! For more information on IPHA’s 85^th Annual Conference, visit the conference’s main page. Hope to see you there!

How To Talk About Vaccines will be held at 12:00 PM ET on July 16. Learn the Voices for Vaccines 4-A method to have empathetic pro-vaccine conversations. Ask. Acknowledge. Affirm. Answer. Register here.

What’s in Vaccines? The Purpose, Safety, and Science Behind their Ingredients from North Dakota University Center for Immunization Research and Education will be held July 16 at 12:00 p.m. CT. From aluminum and thimerosal to formaldehyde and mRNA technology, vaccine ingredients are often misunderstood and frequently the subject of public concern. Discover the science behind common vaccine ingredients with Kylie Hall, MPH, and gain practical tools for confidently addressing questions and misconceptions about vaccine safety.

Storytelling for Social Change: Shaping the Vaccine Narrative hosted by Voices for Vaccines will be held August 19 at 12:00 p.m. ET. Register here.

Vax Advocate Training. Are you interested in using your voice to make your family, school, neighborhood, or community healthier? Voices for Vaccines is building a community of Vaccine Advocates. Attend monthly training sessions for actionable tools and best practices in vaccine advocacy.

• Topics include the 4-A method, storytelling for social change, pro-vaccine messaging and media, resilience for advocates, and leadership 
• Access toolkits to engage their communities in vaccine advocacy
• Meet like-minded people from other communities advocating for immunization

If you’re interested in learning more, fill out the form as “volunteer” here.

CDC Launches County-Level COVID-19 Transmission Tool, Offering Intelligence on Disease Trends. CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics and National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases launched a tool for estimating epidemic trends in COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. The tool provides localized insight into how each virus is spreading at the level of health service areas, which combine one or more contiguous counties that are relatively self-contained with respect to hospital care.

Vaccinate Your Family (VYF) has developed multiple interactive, plain-language mini-courses to help you and your community stay safe from vaccine-preventable diseases, available at VYF University. Each course takes about 30–45 minutes to complete and covers the latest facts, myths, and ways to protect yourself and your loved ones. VYF recently launched a new minicourse, Measles: What Everyone Needs to Know. In this course, you will follow Elena as she learns about measles (e.g., how it is spread, who is most at risk) and how the vaccine protects children, teens, and adults. You’ll also learn how to address common myths and have supportive conversations about measles prevention.

UPDATED: Immunize.org updated Vaccines with Diluents: How to Use Them to remove three vaccines from the table of vaccines requiring a diluent. All available COVID-19 and rotavirus vaccines are now exclusively offered in liquid formulations. In addition, the live chikungunya vaccine (Ixchiq, Valneva) was withdrawn from the U.S. market. This reference will be updated again in coming months to remove the discontinued dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia (Sanofi), once the remaining doses expire in August 2026.

Improving the Vaccination Experience (6 videos): Immunize.org offers brief science-based lessons that cover ways to reduce pain and anxiety during vaccination visits. 

Voices for Vaccines has produced a new video about the 1970 measles outbreak in Texarkana, a town that straddles Texas and Arkansas. Download the video here to post on your social media and tag Voices for Vaccines as a collaborator!

Recording and presentation materials from School Immunization Requirements: Evidence, Policy, and Communication in a Shifting Landscape from North Dakota State University-Center for Immunization Research and Education held on June 17 can be found here.

American College of Gynecologists (ACOG) Releases 2026 Maternal Immunization Schedule, endorsed by 13 Medical, Nursing, and Pharmacy Organizations. The new ACOG guidance continues to recommend routine vaccination during pregnancy with four vaccines (influenza, COVID-19, Tdap, RSV). Vaccination during pregnancy confers protection during the pregnancy, as well as to the newborn in the early months of life. RSV vaccination is licensed and recommended for one pregnancy only; in subsequent pregnancies, infants should receive an RSV preventive antibody product.

ACOG recommends seven additional vaccines (pneumococcal, meningococcal, HepA, HepB, HPV, MMR, varicella) when indicated based on patient-specific circumstances. The recommended timing of these additional vaccines varies because some are contraindicated or not recommended during pregnancy. View the ACOG immunization schedule designed for healthcare professionals. A patient-friendly version of the schedule is available as an infographic or PDF. All current schedules published by healthcare professional organizations, as well as detailed vaccination recommendations are available at Immunize​.org.

Shingles Vaccine May Protect Against Dementia. The new study reinforces similar findings from previous observational studies. Read the article from Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) here.  

Scientists Race to Test Treatments as Ebola Outbreak Widens from The New York Times 

After Bundibugyo virus emerged in 2007, scientists ran preliminary experiments with cells and animals to see if any drugs could stop it. Some of those studies yielded promising results. But scientists did not push the research further, because before now there had only been two small outbreaks of Bundibugyo virus. With limited funds to perform the expensive research, they had to choose their battles. “If you were a betting person, you would not have bet on Bundibugyo to cause something large,” said Thomas Geisbert, a virologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. “And, of course, we’re all wrong now.” Now scientists are rushing to pinpoint drugs to test in clinical trials against Bundibugyo virus. The W.H.O. has put together a list of candidates for immediate trials. Scientists are also hunting for other compounds that might be worth testing...A monoclonal antibody called MBP-134 has proved effective at stopping Bundibugyo infections in monkeys, and in early clinical trials for Ebola virus, it has also proved safe for people to take. In a few cases, doctors are already using MBP-134 to treat Bundibugyo infections. An American physician, Dr. Peter Stafford, received it after he became infected in Congo and was flown to Europe for treatment last month. He also received remdesivir, an antiviral drug that’s been used in the past for other diseases, including COVID. It has shown promise in early studies on Bundibugyo virus.

COVID Vaccine Linked to Broad Protections Against Heart Conditions, Study Finds from The Washington Post. The coronavirus vaccine reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events linked to COVID-19 — strokes, heart attacks, and hospitalization from heart disease — by about 40 percent, according to a new study. The findings, the latest in a growing body of research about the vaccine’s benefits for heart health, suggest such benefits observed in earlier studies have persisted for years. The study, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, also suggested the vaccine has a broader public health benefit. The vaccine modestly reduced cardiovascular conditions, hospitalizations and deaths of all causes, including those not linked to COVID, researchers said...Patients who took the COVID vaccine were also around 6 percent less likely to suffer from severe heart conditions overall, including ones not linked to a COVID-19 infection, according to the study. The vaccine was also associated with reduced deaths and hospitalizations of all causes by around 7 percent.

The Common Health Coalition publishes “Morning Vax View,” a daily roundup of vaccine news and resources. Stay informed with “Morning Vax View”, your go-to source for the latest immunization news, research updates, policy developments, and timely vaccine resources. Delivered directly to your inbox, this daily newsletter helps healthcare professionals, public health partners, and advocates stay current on the issues shaping immunization efforts. Subscribe today to receive curated updates and insights that support your work in protecting communities through vaccination.  

Protection is powerful!

Thank you for helping Illinois stay immunized!