Getting Kindergarten Vaccination Back on Track

During the two school years following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, routine kindergarten and childhood flu vaccination coverage dropped. This is the lowest that we’ve seen kindergarten routine vaccination coverage nationally in the last decade. Education partners and schools are trusted sources of information for parents and guardians, and they play an important role in the health of students. Schools can promote student health, attendance, and learning by adding routine immunizations to the back-to-school checklist.

This webinar will provide an overview of:

• Pandemic impacts on routine vaccination coverage among school aged children;
• Why routine immunization catch-up is important for student health, attendance, and academic achievement
• How CDC is addressing pandemic-related declines in immunization coverage among school aged children via its new initiative Let’s RISE
• Ways in which school leaders and health service staff can support getting kindergarteners caught up on routine immunizations
• Tools and resources that schools can utilize to support routine vaccination catch-up efforts

PRESENTERS

Kathleen Holmes is a senior public health analyst in the Chief Medical Office in the Immunization Services Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She coordinates Let’s RISE, which is the Division’s initiative to understand and address pandemic-related declines in routine vaccinations. Prior to joining the Immunization Services Division, Ms. Holmes spent a decade working in various global health positions at CDC including the Division of Global HIV/AIDS, Center for Global Health, and Division of Parasitic Disease and Malaria. She also served on the COVID-19 response for 18 months, where she helped support COVID-19 vaccine rollout strategy and vaccine confidence and demand partnership work. Ms. Holmes was a Presidential Management Fellow from 2009-2011.

Prior to her work at CDC, Kathleen served as a rural community health Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin. Kathleen has a Master of Public Health degree in global health from Emory University and a Bachelor of Science degree in international political economy and biology from the University of Puget Sound.

Angie Colson Robertson leads to the Campaigns and Rollouts Teams with the Communication Office in the Immunization Services Division (ISD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In this role, she coordinates formative research, concept development, and dissemination of consumer communication campaigns. Angie has extensive experience leading health communication, public affairs, policy, and partnership activities throughout her career at CDC in positions with the Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, where she served as Associate Director for Policy and as Associate Director for Communications, and senior health communication positions with the Division of Global HIV/AIDS Communication and the Office of the Associate Director for Communication Science. At HHS, she worked as a senior press officer and health communication specialist for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, leading the communication rollout of Dietary Guidelines for Americans. She has served in communication and partnership roles in three public health emergencies: COVID-19, Zika, and H1N1. Prior to joining CDC, Angie worked at Porter Novelli in their health care practice, helping launch CDC’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” campaign.

Angie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Georgia Southern University, and a Master of Arts in Communication from Georgia State University.