by Casey L . Penn
2020 Immunization Summit : November 13 , 2020 Hosted by Immunize Arkansas , Virtual Summit to Include Updates , Continuing Education
To stay abreast of updates and research
related to COVID and its impact on immunizations , physicians may want to attend the 2020 Immunization Summit , presented virtually this fall by Immunize Arkansas , on November 13 .
Heather Mercer is executive director of Immunize Arkansas , a nonprofit dedicated to improving vaccination rates for all Arkansans through education , advocacy ,
HEATHER MERCER and statewide partnerships . Not a government agency or pharmaceutical company , the organization supports ADH and other stakeholders in raising awareness and removing fears about vaccines through two summits annually ( HPV in the spring and a larger , comprehensive summit in the fall ) and continuing education for physicians , nurses and pharmacists .
“ The focus of this year ’ s [ fall ] summit is COVID and the impact on immunizations ,” said Mercer . “ People may be tired of talking about COVID , but it has had a tremendous influence on physicians and their practices and their patients , and it ’ s not going to be over for a while .”
ADH Medical Director for Immunizations and Outbreak Response Jennifer Dillaha , MD , will open the Summit with “ The State of the State ( COVID Update and Immunization Rates ).” Dr . Dillaha noted , “ Last year , when Dr . Nate Smith gave a similar presentation , Arkansas had moved from 50 th in all the states in completion of the
required vaccination series for young children ( in 2013 ) to a rank of 16 th . That ’ s an amazing rise , so , I ’ m interested to see if we improved the following year , but we ’ re waiting to get 2019 data from the National Immunization Survey . I ’ m not sure if it will be delayed due to the pandemic . I thought surely we would continue to move up , but now in 2020 , everything is a different story .”
AMS President Chad Rodgers , MD , is scheduled to present “ Encouraging and Maintaining Childhood Immunizations and Well-child Care During COVID-19 .” He shared a few thoughts with The Journal from his perspective as a pediatrician and chief medical officer for Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care . “ We know a lot about how vaccines are made and how to make them safely . That knowledge and other advancements in medicine are helping us make a new vaccine in a safe , effective way ,” said Dr . Rodgers .
Other speakers and topics include “ How Immunizations are Influenced through Social Media ,” from speaker Joe Smyser , PhD , CEO , of The Public Goods Project , and “ COVID Vaccines in Development and the Process ,” presented by ADH Secretary of Health and Chair of Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Jose Romero , MD .
“ It will be interesting to see what Dr . Romero will have to share ,” anticipated Mercer . “ He should have an informative update about current vaccines in development and reassurance that they will be safe . There ’ s so much misinformation about the vaccines in clinical trials . We must educate now on the process so that when it ’ s available , people will get it . We already have a hard time getting people to get a flu vaccine . One of the things that physicians can do to help with that is to emphasize that it ’ s safe for children to come into their clinics .”
Concerning social media , she added , “ So much of social media surrounding immunizations is negative . Arkansas hasn ’ t been hugely impacted by the anti-vaccine movement , but the problem is growing in that direction . COVID has put a magnifying glass on vaccines . We ’ ve seen what not having a vaccine can do – for this one disease or virus . We certainly don ’ t want to get back to the point where we could have another pandemic on our hands , especially for something that is preventable .”
The final registration deadline for the event is November 9 , 2020 . For more on registration and a full schedule of speakers and CE , visit https :// www . immunizear . org / 2020-virtual-immunization-summit .
106 • The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society www . ArkMed . org