Immunization

TMF Offers Resources to Navigate CMS Requirements - 05/16/2023

TMF has launched three physician-focused networks designed to save time, improve patient care, and reduce costs associated with meeting these requirements. These programs, focused on immunizations, behavioral health and value-based improvements, are designed to help physicians benefit from—and not be penalized by—these mandates.

Apply for a Grant to Help Promote Vaccines - 05/10/2023

More than ever, medicine needs its soldiers to promote the safety, efficacy, and importance of vaccines.

Mumps: Virus Causes Puffy Cheeks and Sometimes, Serious Complications - 04/24/2023

The bottom line: Mumps is a viral contagious disease. People know mumps for patients’ swollen cheeks and jaw, but patients also suffer fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, and loss of appetite. Outbreaks occur every year in the United States and Texas. The MMR vaccine protects people against this disease.

Talk to Patients About: Vaccines for Older Adults - 03/01/2023

This material is designed to help you talk to your patients and help them understand the benefits of vaccines.

TMA Grants to Help Your Practice Improve Local Vaccination Rates - 01/09/2023

Apply for a grant. Vaccines Defend What Matters (formerly Be Wise – Immunize) is TMA’s integrated, multimedia public health education and advocacy effort to overcome vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccination rates in Texas. 

DSHS Survey to Inform Legislative Policy on COVID-19 Vaccines in Texas - 11/01/2022

As part of 2021 legislative mandate, the Texas Department of State Health Services is funding a survey to collect feedback from physicians and health care professionals regarding access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Unvaccinated Numbers Down, Well-Checks Up in Spring Branch, Northwest Houston With TMA Outreach - 10/17/2022

Hundreds of Spring Branch and Northwest Houston-area kids headed back to school all caught up on their vaccinations and well-child checks, thanks in part to the Texas Medical Association’s Vaccines Defend What Matters initiative.

OSHA: Hepatitis B Vaccination Requirement - 10/07/2022

OSHA: Hepatitis B Vaccination Requirement

Who Can Consent to Immunization of Minors? - 09/28/2022

Who in Texas can consent to immunization of minors?

Talk to Patients About: Tetanus - 09/01/2022

Almost all U.S. tetanus cases occur among people who are unvaccinated or did not receive a booster shot, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC Webinar: How to Recognize and Report Polio, Reinforce Vaccination - 08/30/2022

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigates a case of polio in New York state, the agency is encouraging physicians and health care professionals to ensure their patients are up to date on their polio vaccinations.

Talk to Patients About: Polio - 08/08/2022

Polio once terrified Americans. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the virus crippled around 35,000 Americans a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because polio often attacked abdominal muscles used to breathe, many died or permanently needed a respirator called an iron lung.

Untangling ImmTrac2: TMA Aims to Build on Immunization Registry Reforms - 07/29/2022

The Texas Medical Association is hopeful state lawmakers will be spurred by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to address ImmTrac2's shortfalls, bolstering public health protections and easing physicians' administrative woes.

CDC Authorizes Novavax Adult COVID Vaccine - 07/22/2022

There’s now a fourth COVID-19 vaccine option available in the U.S. after the federal government gave emergency use authorization to the Novavax vaccine for adults.

Talk to Patients About: Natural Immunity vs. Vaccine Immunity for COVID-19 - 06/29/2022

Catching COVID-19 can provide people with a degree of immunity from being reinfected with the disease in the future. This prompts some to opt against vaccination and instead risk getting sick to obtain this “natural immunity” on the assumption they will get a mild case and it will protect them from future illness.

Vaccine Equity Gains: COVID-19 Vaccine Rate Disparities Narrow Amid Physician-Led Outreach - 06/29/2022

When the COVID-19 vaccine rollout began in mid-December 2020, many physicians, advocates, and community leaders worried the health disparities laid bare by the pandemic would repeat themselves.  But improved data collection and innovative outreach efforts – many of them led by Texas physicians and medical students – have helped close these gaps.

CDC Recommends COVID Vaccines for Kids as Young as 6 Months - 06/21/2022

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended two COVID-19 vaccines that now can be used for children between 6 months and 5 years old, meaning physicians and other vaccinators can begin giving those shots – and they’re now available for ordering through the state’s Vaccine Allocation & Ordering System.

Preorder COVID Vaccines for Ages 6 Months to 5 Years - 06/03/2022

State health authorities are asking COVID-19 vaccinators who will immunize children from ages 6 months through 5 years to preorder the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that will collectively serve that age group once they’re approved.

CDC Signs Off on COVID Booster for Ages 5-11 - 05/20/2022

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization advisory committee has approved Pfizer COVID-19 booster doses for children aged 5 to 11.

Talk to Patients About: Should I Get Vaccinated if I’ve Had COVID-19? - 05/01/2022

There is a lot of misinformation about vaccines, so each month Texas Medicine highlights common concerns that patients raise about immunizations. This material is designed to help you talk to your patients and help them understand the benefits of vaccines. Find

Mandatory Monthly COVID Vaccine Inventory Reporting Starts in May - 04/22/2022

Beginning in May, COVID-19 vaccinators will be required to make monthly reports of their vaccine inventory by the fifth of each month, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has told Texas Medicine Today.

A Healthy Education: Med Students Promote Vaccines, Education Across Texas - 04/07/2022

Medical students win grants to promote vaccines, education across Texas.

Make Sure Your COVID Vaccine Temp Calibration Is Current - 04/05/2022

All COVID-19 vaccinators must have proper storage unit temperature-monitoring equipment to keep their vaccine supplies viable – including current certificates of temperature calibration – or they won’t get their vaccine orders, the Texas Department of State Health Services has announced.

FDA Delays Consideration of Vaccine for Kids Under 5 - 04/05/2022

The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) review of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 months through 4 years has been delayed to allow the agency to consider a potential third dose for that age group.

TMA Ask the Expert: Employee Vaccinations - 04/05/2022

Physician employers may feel caught between a rock and a hard place while trying to navigate employee vaccination policies. Federal emergency regulations continue to face court challenges, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order in October 2021 that contradicts federal guidelines.