August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM)
Aug 01, 2015
Written by ECBT social media intern, Linn H.
As a PhD student studying the effects of behavior within the realm of public health, I understand the importance of monitoring your own health with routine check-ups and making sure you are up to date with your vaccinations. However, we get busy, life gets in the way and we feel we do not have the time to invest in our own health.
That is why each summer the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launches National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) to highlight the importance of immunizations and the value of vaccinating across the lifespan.
NIAM is celebrated throughout the month of August, and Every Child By Two (ECBT) encourages everyone to start a discussion with their family, friends and colleagues both in person and over social media (using the Hashtag #NIAM15) to inspire everyone to get their vaccines up to date.
ECBT will be supporting NIAM each week by highlighting vaccinations for the designated age groups according to the schedule below:
- Week 1: Ensure a healthy future with vaccines (preteens & teens)
- Week 2: Protect yourself and pass protection on to your baby (pregnant women)
- Week 3: Vaccines are not just for kids (adults)
- Week 4: A healthy start begins with on-time vaccinations (birth to age 6)
We challenge other organizations to join ECBT in supporting NIAM by downloading the NIAM toolkit and using this great resource to disseminate vaccine related information across social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram each week!
Remember that as we get older, our vaccines may wear off requiring vaccine boosters to kick start our immune systems. In order to protect both ourselves and our loved ones from deadly but preventable diseases it is important to remain knowledgeable about the vaccines needed at every stage of life. I will be challenging myself to become more aware about my own immunization records and making sure that I am up-to-date on my vaccines, but also that my parents and family members are protected from vaccine preventable diseases.
I challenge you to do the same. Use this great resource (Vaccine schedule across the lifespan) and talk to your doctor to get a list of recommended immunizations and inquire whether you are up-to-date.
Let’s do this together! #NIAM15
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