ACC is part of a consortium of medical specialty societies – Specialty Societies Advancing Adult Immunization – funded through CDC and supported by CMSS to provide vaccination resources to cardiovascular clinicians, including education and learning opportunities, clinical practice guidance, and quality improvement initiatives.
Why focus on adult immunizations?
- Adult vaccination rates are extremely low.
- Most adults are NOT aware that they need vaccines.
- Recommendation from their healthcare professional is the strongest predictor of whether patients get vaccinated.
- There are many missed opportunities for vaccination because many healthcare professionals are not routinely assessing vaccination status.
CDC's Standards for Adult Immunization Practice (SAIP)
The National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) revised the Standards for Adult Immunization Practice in 2013. View the most recent Standards for Adult Immunization Practice on the CDC website. These updated standards call on ALL healthcare professionals — whether they provide vaccinations or not — to take steps to help ensure that their adult patients are fully immunized. These steps are as follows:
ASSESS immunization status of all your patients at every clinical encounter.
- Stay informed. Get the latest CDC recommendations for immunization of adults.
- Implement protocols and policies. Ensure that patients' vaccine needs are routinely reviewed and patients get reminders about vaccines they need.
Strongly RECOMMEND vaccines that patients need.
- Share tailored reasons why vaccination is right for the patient.
- Highlight positive experiences with vaccination.
- Address patient questions and concerns.
- Remind patients that vaccines protect them and their loved ones against a number of common and serious diseases.
- Explain the potential costs of getting sick.
ADMINISTER or REFER your patients to a vaccination provider.
- Offer the vaccines you stock.
- Refer patients to providers in the area that offer vaccines that you don't stock.
DOCUMENT vaccines received by your patients.
- Participate in your state's immunization registry. Help your office, your patients, and your patients' other providers know which vaccines your patients have had.
- Follow up. Confirm that patients received recommended vaccines that you referred them to get from other immunization providers.
Clinical Guidance
- 2024 ACC/AHA/AACVPR/APMA/ABC/SCAI/SVM/SVN/SVS/SIR/VESS Guideline for the Management of Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease
- 2024 ACC Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for Treatment of Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction
- 2023 AHA/ACC/ACCP/ASPC/NLA/PCNA Guideline for the Management of Patients with Chronic Coronary Disease
- 2022 Cardiovascular Sequelae of COVID-19 in Adults: Expert Consensus Decision Pathway
- 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure
- 2021 ACC Health Policy Statement on Cardiovascular Disease Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritization
- 2014 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of Patients With Non–ST-Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes
- 2013 ACCF/AHA Guideline for the Management of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction
- 2012 ACCF/AHA/ACP/AATS/PCNA/SCAI/STS Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Stable Ischemic Heart Disease
Heart House Roundtables
Educational Initiatives
Clinician Tools
CardioSmart Patient Tools
- Flu Shots and Your Heart Patient Hub (online resource)
- How to Talk With Our Heart Patients About Adult Vaccinations (discussion guide)
- Increasing Vaccination Rates for Patients with CVD (clinician handout)
- Vaccine referral form (clinician worksheet)
- Flu Shots and Your Heart (infographic)
- Protect Your Heart With the Vaccines You Need (infographic)
- Have heart disease? Get the vaccines you need to stay healthy (fact sheet)
- How Flu Affects Your Heart: Why Getting a Flu Shot is Important (video)
- Stay on top of your vaccines (worksheet)
- Keeping a vaccine record is important (fact sheet)
- Have heart disease? Take steps to avoid the flu. (info sheet)
- Coronavirus and Your Heart: Don't Ignore Heart Symptoms Patient (infographic)
- 5 Ways to Keep Your Heart Safe This Fall (infographic)
- 5 Ways to Keep Your Heart Safe This Fall (fact sheet)
Other Resources
- Council of Medical Specialty Societies Resources
- ACC Chief DEI Officer, Melvin Echols, MD, FACC, Shares the Cardiologist Perspective for Prioritizing Flu Vaccines
- CV Societies Issue Statement Supporting COVID-19 Vaccines For All Health Care Workers
- Updated: Quick Tips and Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccination in Heart Failure and Transplant Patients
- Vaccine-induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT) and COVID-19 Vaccines: What Cardiovascular Clinicians Need to Know
- Influenza vaccination: a 'shot' at INVESTing in cardiovascular health
- Global Trial Demonstrates Some Benefits of Flu Shots for Heart Failure Patients
- Association of Influenza Vaccination With Cardiovascular Risk: A Meta-analysis
- Prioritizing Health | DANFLU-1: High-Dose vs. Standard-Dose Influenza Vaccine in Elderly Adults
- Am I Getting the Influenza Shot Too?: Influenza Vaccination as Post–Myocardial Infarction Care for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Events and Death
- Disparities in Influenza Vaccination Coverage and Associated Factors Among Adults with Cardiovascular Disease, United States, 2011–2020
- Influenza vaccination: a call for cardiologists
- Drug-Drug Interactions With Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) and Select Cardiovascular Medications
- Cardiovascular Drug Interactions With Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir in Patients With COVID-19
- Call to Action: The Dangers of Influenza and COVID-19 in Adults With Chronic Health Conditions
- Centers for Disease Control Resources: