When she began planning her presentation on vaccination updates, Lea Eiland figured she would provide a routine review of recommendations and immunization schedules from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
That was January. But as federal vaccine policies began changing in recent months, Lea Eiland, clinical professor at Auburn University’s Harrison College of Pharmacy, knew that her session would need to help attendees sort through the confusion.
“You need to learn where to find reputable resources,” Eiland said. “That’s what I will encourage attendees to learn and think about.”
Eiland gave ASHP News a preview of her Dec. 10 Midyear presentation, Viva Vaccination! Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) 2025 Update.
ASHP: What were some of the updates you were going to discuss even before the CDC adopted new recommendations from ACIP?
Eiland: If you haven’t learned about vaccines in a couple of years, here’s some new things. One, we have a passive immunization, a monoclonal antibody (for RSV) on the vaccine chart, which was put there so it would be covered under the Vaccines for Children program. We have a lot of misinformation because patients may be saying it’s an RSV vaccine for children, and I don’t want my child to receive a vaccine. Well, it’s not a vaccine. It’s passive immunization, a whole different way to create immune system protection. You’re having to do a lot of education around this as there is also a RSV vaccine, but it is not indicated for infants and children at this time.
We have some new vaccines that are available. For example, we have a fourth COVID-19 vaccine available; Moderna created a new COVID vaccine that’s targeted to two different sites on the spike protein.
So how has your presentation changed in the last few months?
I’ll review the updated flu, RSV, and COVID-19 recommendations from ACIP as well as other new vaccine recommendations. Several medical organizations have now started putting out their own vaccine recommendations and reaffirmed their stances on many vaccines. We will talk about those similarities and differences between recommendations.
My presentation continues to focus on resources: professional organizations, government organizations, vaccine apps from the CDC and others where you can get trustworthy information and data to stay up to date.
I will show attendees how to interpret the ACIP vaccine tables, use the CDC app, and apply these to case studies to help determine recommendations. Attendees may or may not agree with the ACIP recommendations, but they’ll know at least what ACIP is recommending and interpret the charts for their patients.
Why is this topic important even to attendees who don’t work in community settings?
Hospitals have vaccines in the formulary and patients are administered vaccines as an inpatient. We can help prevent patients from having vaccine-preventable diseases and being readmitted or going to into the clinics for illnesses.
What do you hope attendees take away from this presentation?
We are in a new era of vaccine recommendations for all populations. There are multiple immunization schedules and vaccine recommendations available today through the ACIP and professional organizations as well as state coalitions. It is important to use trustworthy resources to identify up-to-date information about your patient’s needs for vaccines and coverage.
