Campaign Toolkit

Once your team has a strong foundation of clinical support for administering vaccinations, look for new opportunities to promote immunization both inside and outside of your practice by considering the following.

Identify priority populations for expanded vaccination opportunities

There are a variety of audiences that would benefit from dedicated education and expanded opportunities to receive routine adult vaccinations, such as:

• Staff within your organization. Offering vaccinations to staff protects their health and the wellness of your patients. Once vaccinated, these individuals can serve as “immunization ambassadors” for patients by sharing personal experiences and encouraging vaccine confidence.
• At-risk and high-risk patients. Leverage gap reports to identify patients who are immunocompromised (high risk) and immunocompetent (at risk) and would get the most benefit from routine vaccinations.
• Underserved groups. Examine data on vaccination rates and health disparities and take into consideration the social determinants of health (e.g., neighborhood and built environment, social and community context, education, and economic stability). Prioritize populations that historically have not had access to routine adult immunizations in your community. 

Leverage existing touchpoints and resources

Meet your target populations where they live, work, and receive care. Examine opportunities within the organization’s care delivery system, such as:

• Telehealth appointments
• Annual wellness visits
• Walk-in and nurse clinics
• Patient education classes, such as birthing classes or programs for patients with diabetes
• Drive-thru clinics or mobile vaccination vans
• Specialty practices
• Other sites of care such as skilled nursing facilities

Look externally at resources and organizations within the community. Evaluate existing partnerships and consider forging new ones. Examples include:

• Facilities convenient to target populations, like senior centers
• Community health workers and social workers
• Local public health departments
• Faith-based organizations
• Employee vaccination drives by local companies
• Seasonal flu clinics
• Retail pharmacies

Use these channels to not only administer vaccines, but also educate patients and their families about the importance of getting vaccinated.

Practical tips for implementation

Administering vaccines in new settings requires significant planning. Consider the following tips as you develop these offerings:

• For seasonal flu clinics, start planning as early as possible. Many organizations start planning for the upcoming flu season in the preceding spring, enabling them to order vaccines early and make adjustments accordingly.
• Allocate adequate staff time and budget—and anticipate potential constraints.
• Remember special considerations for your target audience, such as transportation for patients in rural areas and translators for patients with English as a second language.  
• For any new offerings, have a communications plan in place. Consider objectives, target audience, messaging, channels, and evaluation.
• For considerations regarding documentation of vaccinations administered in new settings, consult the campaign planks in the IT/Documentation Domain.