2021 Howard L. Bost Memorial Health Policy Forum
Kentucky Vaccine Policy: Myths, Messengers and Messages
September 20: 12:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. ET
September 21: 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET Virtual – Register Here
They’re something that used to be seemingly non-controversial. But now – amid a pandemic – vaccines, both specifically for COVID-19 and in general, are at the center of controversy. The 2021 Howard L. Bost Memorial Health Policy Forum will explore growing vaccine hesitancy in America and in Kentucky, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bost Forum speakers and panelists will explore the growing rate of vaccine hesitancy in America and discuss effective strategies health advocates, providers, and public agencies are employing to increase recommended vaccine uptake in Kentucky.
In 2020, Kentucky ranked 37th in annual immunization uptake, and 43rd in childhood immunizations, according to America’s Health Rankings. Data also shows the pandemic has impacted vaccination rates. The CDC, in June, reported childhood vaccination rates dropped dramatically in the early months of the pandemic, and many children and teens are still behind in their shots. Meantime, GlaxoSmithKline and Avalere Health reported that teens and adults potentially missed more than 26-million doses of recommended vaccines in 2020.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports, among children born between 1994 and 2013 – when vaccine coverage was around 90 percent for much of the period – vaccines prevented an estimated 322 million illnesses and 732,000 deaths in the U.S. And, during that same timeframe, vaccines eliminated $295 billion in direct costs and $1.38 trillion in total societal costs that those diseases would have caused.
Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack will kick off the forum with a “State of Vaccines in Kentucky” presentation.
Additional topics include:
- The influence of policy measures on vaccine rates
- Improving Kentucky’s vaccine registry
- Vaccine research, development, and approval
- Vaccines in schools
- Vaccine hesitancy
- Messaging campaign successes
- Early childhood, youth, and adult vaccines
The Howard L. Bost Memorial Health Policy Forum is free of charge. For more information and to register, click here.
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