National Immunization Awareness Month is here; upcoming week will focus on protecting babies and young children.

Every year in August, National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of immunization and the need for improving national vaccination coverage levels.

NIAM is co-sponsored by the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) and CDC. This week, August 12–18, focuses on vaccinations for babies and young children. The theme for the week is "A healthy start begins with on-time vaccinations."

The 2018 edition of the communications toolkit, put out by NPHIC in collaboration with CDC, contains key messages, vaccine information, sample news releases and articles, sample social media messages, links to web resources from CDC and other organizations, and logos, web banners, posters, and graphics to use with social media.

https://www.nphic.org/niam

The website also includes a place for you to share your NIAM activities and view what others are doing for NIAM, using the hashtag #NIAM18.

The first week of NIAM focused on vaccinations for pregnant women. The remaining weeks will focus on the following:

August 19–25—Preteens & teens: Ensure a healthy future with vaccines
August 26–31—Adults: Vaccines are not just for kids