My mother was a school nurse and because of that, I am in possession of my childhood vaccination card which I once mistakenly grabbed and brought to the travel vaccine clinic – making for a very excited infectious disease doctor. I tell that story because that childhood vaccine card is both a remnant of my childhood and a reminder of the importance my mother placed on having us be up to date on our vaccines. Now that I am an older adult, that importance is magnified further – knowing that the risk of many diseases grows with age. Which is why, a couple of weeks ago, I got my flu and COVID-19 vaccines at a local pharmacy so I would be up-to-date with the vaccines that CDC recommends for older adults.
Since 2022, as we have reported in our AGS newsletter, list serv and other communications vehicles, the AGS is a part of a six specialty society collaboration that is led by the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSSS) with funding from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Recently we covered the work of our AGS Vaccine Ambassadors in our newsletter, and that article can be found here.
More recently, AGS has been participating in the Risk Less. Do More. campaign, an initiative from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This campaign aims to increase awareness of vaccines that reduce the risk of serious illness from flu, COVID-19, and RSV and to limit the spread of these viruses among all Americans. In this blog post, I wanted to highlight some of the materials created by the Risk Less. Do More. campaign which are available for our members to use in your practices and to share across your networks. The campaign resources (found: Risk Less. Do More. | HHS.gov) include messaging you can use in patient outreach, fact sheets and a conversation guide with tips on how to talk to patients about vaccines.
Before I came to AGS, as a care partner to my aunt, I had the opportunity to see how geriatrics health professionals work together as a team to support someone to age with dignity. I know that each of you is the most trusted source of information for the people that you care for and the care partners who support them. I hope that the resources from the Risk Less: Do More. campaign will be of value to you as you counsel patients and recommend vaccination to your patients. Vaccines are one of the tools in our collective toolbox that help all of us to age well. Or, as my mother used to say after every vaccine, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.