January 2026

Welcome!

Welcome to the inaugural issue of VAX FACTS, a newsletter brought to you by the Immunize Illinois Coalition. This publication is designed to keep providers, partners, and public health professionals informed with timely updates, practical guidance, and key resources related to vaccination efforts across the state. As Illinois continues to navigate an evolving immunization landscape, our goal is to support your work with clear, reliable information and to serve as a consistent source for policy updates, best practices, and program highlights. You can expect an edition in your in-box the last Thursday of each month. We invite you to share stories, resources, and tools to be included in the newsletter. We’re glad you’re here and look forward to working alongside you to keep Illinois communities healthy.

This section of the newsletter will provide updates on the activities of the Immunize Illinois Coalition. Since the “soft launch” of Immunize Illinois Coalition in April 2025 at the Illinois Infectious Disease Conference, the Coalition has been busy! Here are some of the activities the Coalition has been up to:

• Initiated the process of becoming a standalone 501(c)3 nonprofit while forming governance through bylaws and Board structure.
• Began monthly meetings with the Community Advisory Council, which provides insight and guidance on the priorities of the Coalition, in December 2025.
• Tracked and responded to various immunization-related policy changes at both the state and federal levels.
• Continued to develop a sustainability plan focusing on the longevity of the Coalition with both short- and long-term goals

Find trainings, webinars, and important dates related to vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases.

• February 11  |  Illinois Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics (ICAAP), Hepatitis B Vaccination: Your Role in Lifelong Protection. Register Here
• February 17  |  Illinois Community Health Workers Association (ILCHWA), Vaccines Saves Lives. Register Here
• February 27  |  Help.Guide.Thrive and Immunize Illinois Coalition are partnering to offer a three-part series on practical communication skills for talking with families about vaccines and useful strategies to support and advocate for stronger immunization efforts within communities. Register for the series Here
• March 18  |  ICAAP, HPV Vaccination: The Latest Data and What Federal Guidance Means for Illinois. Register Here.

Help Build a Measles Response Repository: For Public Health Departments. The Center for Outbreak Response Innovation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is seeking to collect real-world operational data from health departments across the U.S. who have managed measles outbreaks in the last few years. If you work at a health department that responded to a measles outbreak since 2024, your agency may be eligible.  Data can be submitted to the repository via the survey here or you can email ORI-Net@jh.edu. Personally identifiable or personal health information is not being requested and is not part of data collection.

Forgetting to Remember-Lessons from a Vaccine Lost. The Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia premiered Forgetting to Remember – Lessons from a Vaccine Lost along with related webpage, which includes information and resources related to adenovirus.

If this film, or any of their other films, may be of interest for local screenings, you can find out more and access resources from this page of the Hilleman website. You can reach out with questions related to the films or hosting a screening at vacinfo@chop.edu.

Digital Resources about mRNA vaccines for healthcare providers. Vaccinate Your Family launched two new educational resources designed for healthcare providers and available to the public for free:

• Effective Vaccine Conversations: The Presumptive Recommendation Approach: A minicourse that provides learners with proven strategies to make vaccine conversations routine, effective, and empathetic. Through real-world examples and interactive practice, participants gain the tools and confidence needed to foster vaccine confidence.
• Understanding mRNA Vaccines: From Development to Immune Response: A digital download comprised of three PDF resources helps readers communicate confidently and accurately about mRNA vaccine technology and safety.  

Immunize.org adds vaccine schedules and searchable database of recommendations published by healthcare professional organizations. To better support vaccination providers and educators, Immunize.org launched two new pages to connect with healthcare professional organizations guidance in the new Healthcare Professional Organizations section on the website.

• Healthcare Professional Organization Recommended Schedules: this web page displays current immunization schedules published by healthcare professional organizations for their patient populations
• Healthcare Professional Organization Vaccine Recommendations searchable database sorted into two tabs:
  • Comprehensive Recommendations: this tab lists broad recommendations for a specific population, such as those who are immunocompromised.
  • Vaccine-Specific Recommendations: this web page displays a searchable listing of recommendations published by healthcare professional organizations for the population they serve.

Most Vaccine Hesitancy can be Successfully Overcome. A new study published in The Lancet finds most COVID-19 vaccine hesitant individuals in England. Read about the study here via Health Policy Watch.

California becomes the first state to join World Health Organization (WHO) disease network after U.S. exit.

ACIP Schedules Next Meeting for February 2026. The Advisory Committee on Immunization (ACIP) Practices is scheduled to meet February 25-26, marking its first meeting since recent federal actions altered several long-standing vaccine recommendations. Leading medical societies are seeking a federal injunction to halt the meeting and block recent changes to the childhood immunization schedule.  

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other groups are asking a federal judge to restore the immunization schedule to its April 2025 form and to pause ACIP proceedings while litigation is ongoing. 
• A hearing on the request for preliminary injunctive relief is scheduled for February 13, which could determine whether the February ACIP meeting proceeds as planned.  

ACIP new chair expressed doubt about continuing polio vaccine. Read more here.

Immunization News in Illinois - Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill in early December that he said will protect Illinois residents from “junk science” undermining evidence-based vaccine regulations at the federal level. The bill allows the Illinois Department of Public Health director to issue state-specific guidelines with input from the state’s Immunization Advisory Committee (IAC), a group of doctors, nurses and public health professionals that advise the director. It will also allow the committee to issue guidance that differs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including to approve vaccines for seasonal respiratory illnesses including the flu, COVID-19 and RSV and routine vaccines MMR and Hepatitis B vaccines.

Each month this section will highlight a vaccine-related trivia question or vaccine-related story. This month is a question. If you know the answer, email mgraven@ipha.com. Check the next issue for the answer!

Protection is powerful!

Thank you for helping Illinois stay immunized!