Immunizations

2020 has been a hard year. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed our loved ones, made many Texans sick, and upended our lives. Now we’re facing another big threat – flu season.

Each year in the United States, the influenza (flu) virus kills or hospitalizes thousands of people and makes millions sick.

Our physicians and other health care professionals remain busy caring for COVID-19 patients. They don’t want to start seeing lots of flu patients too. That could stretch our health care system to the breaking point. They want you to get the care you need, when you need it.

Nobody’s certain when the first COVID-19 vaccines will be available, but you can take important steps now to make sure you’re ready to vaccinate patients quickly once the shots arrive, state health leaders said this week.

The State Board of Education has approved health education standards that would require public schools to teach the importance of human papillomavirus vaccines beginning in seventh grade.

If school districts during an epidemic want to exclude students who have declined vaccinations for reasons of conscience, both the law and public health considerations are on their side, the Texas Medical Association has told Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

As you know, virtual and in-person classes are under way or will soon start in schools across Texas, so it’s important that students be up to date with vaccinations.

With flu season on the horizon – and the COVID-19 pandemic expected to continue – Texas physicians should strongly encourage patients to receive a flu vaccination as early as possible.

Vaccines are all about reducing the risk of getting a disease; anti-vaccine arguments are designed to downplay how risky those diseases can be.

Although an anti-vaccine movement has continued to grow in Texas, the vast majority of voters support requiring vaccinations for Texas children, results from a poll released this week show. This is the third public opinion survey with very similar findings to be released in Texas in the past nine months.

It may seem like the sensible thing to do, but no, you can’t make everyone in your practice get a flu shot.

One of the most contentious areas of health policy over the past two decades has been the safety of vaccination. Vaccines prevent the outbreak of diseases that used to be widespread. Yet many Americans refuse or delay the vaccination of their children out of fear that it could lead to autism, even though scientific consensus refutes this claim.

Most Republican voters want schoolchildren to have their shots before going to school, according to a recent Texas survey.

Houston, Fort Worth, Plano, and Austin are among the cities in the nation with the highest number of kindergartners who have not received vaccinations because of nonmedical reasons, according to the study published this week in the journal PLOS Medicine.

Be Wise — Immunize™ is a public health initiative of TMA. The program works with physicians, medical students, and TMA Alliance members to improve vaccination rates in Texas through education and hands-on immunization clinics. TMA members can receive up to $2,500 for a vaccination event.

TMA supports efforts to increase immunization rates in Texas, including improve the state’s current immunization tracking system, ImmTrac; improving immunization education efforts for providers and parents; addressing public and private vaccine financing issues; and addressing vaccine shortages.