Vaccine Advisory Committee for Colorado (VACC)
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- What is VACC
- Who makes up VACC
- Objectives
- Progress
- Information and Tools
- Administrative Management/Contacts
What is VACC
The Vaccine Advisory Committee for Colorado (VACC) is a collaboration of some of Colorado’s brightest leaders in vaccination research, policy and best practices. These individuals were brought together to reach the goal of increasing childhood immunization coverage in Colorado.
In late 2007, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) established VACC to examine the barriers to childhood immunizations, identify pockets of need and recommend strategies for increasing immunization coverage for all Coloradans.
Co-chaired by Lieutenant Governor Barbara O’Brien and Dr. Robert Brayden, this committee consists of leaders in public health, school health, child advocacy, health care, philanthropy and academia. In addition to the Executive Committee and the Steering Committee, which guide VACC in its mission, smaller subcommittees engage in planning and implementation to achieve specific VACC goals and objectives.
- Advisory Committee members
- Steering Committee members
- Subcommittee members and assignments
Objectives
VACC utilizes a series of strategies to aggressively pursue the goal of Colorado becoming one of the best states for childhood immunization coverage:
1. Educate and inform parents
- Create a clear and user-friendly public awareness campaign for the general public and health care providers.
- Maximize the likelihood that all Colorado parents will choose to get their children fully immunized on a timely basis.
2. Eliminate barriers to immunizatiion
- Invest in targeted interventions that reduce and/or eliminate barriers to parents getting their children immunized.
- Eliminate racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic disparities in the immunization rates of Colorado’s children and adolescents.
3. Build infrastructure for immunization providers
- Continue building a sustainable information infrastructure with the Colorado Immunization Information System (CIIS).
- Establishing statewide immunization policies that build on private and public investments.
4. Create benchmarks and goals
- Establish statewide vaccine-specific, age-specific targets for immunization rates over the next one, two and five years as recommended by the national Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Progress
During his 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Governor Bill Ritter called for 80% of Colorado’s 0-35 month olds to be fully immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases by 2010—a Healthy People 2010 target set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
VACC’s projects have set Colorado well on its way to achieve the goal of 80% coverage by 2010. According to the annual National Immunization Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2008 Colorado’s rate for fully immunizing the state’s children, from birth to age 35 months, was 79.4%, above the national average of 76.1%.
While the goal of 80% coverage has not yet been achieved, it is a great improvement from Colorado’s low point of 62.7 percent in 2002. VACC recognizes a range of barriers to full vaccination coverage including
- Parental choice to refuse or under-vaccinate children
- Socio-economic/ethnic disparities
- Geographic access to vaccine providers
VACC’s subcommittees continue to work towards achieving this important goal.
To read a full report of VACC’s progress please review the 2008 Interim Report.
- Committees and Meetings - VACC has various committees, each with its own set of goals and objectives. If you would like to get involved please contact Erin Suelmann
- VACC Collaboration Room – password required
The Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition serves as the administrative management for VACC fulfilling the facilitator needs for meetings, as well as providing staff support, research and leadership.
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Thank You to our Community Partners
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