Vaccinate Your Family

Vaccinate Your Family is a United States nonprofit organization focused on immunization advocacy, public education, and efforts to improve access to recommended vaccines. The organization was established in 1991 under the name Every Child By Two, a name that expressed its original emphasis on ensuring that children received essential vaccinations by age two. It was founded by Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady of the United States, and Betty Bumpers, former First Lady of Arkansas. The organization emerged during a period of concern about a measles outbreak in the United States. The outbreak resulted in approximately 150 deaths, including young children, and highlighted gaps in routine childhood immunization. Carter and Bumpers created a national immunization-awareness initiative intended to mobilize public officials, health professionals, community organizations, and families. An early objective was to encourage immunization of 95 percent of U.S. children against diseases including diphtheria, measles, and rubella by 2000. Although its original identity centered on childhood vaccination, the organization broadened its educational scope to address additional vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization needs. Its public-information work has covered diseases such as chickenpox, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and human papillomavirus-related disease. The organization has also supported immunization information systems and registries, which allow health-care providers to review vaccination histories, identify missed doses, and improve the continuity of care. Vaccinate Your Family has worked with a range of partners, including the American Nurses Association, Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases, Rotary clubs, state health departments, schools, and universities. It has also been associated with the Immunization Advocacy Coalition and is identified as a member of the Vaccine Safety Net. These relationships reflect a model based less on commercial products than on coalition building, evidence-based communication, and public-health advocacy. In 2018, Every Child By Two adopted the name Vaccinate Your Family. The change reflected a broader remit extending beyond early childhood and positioned the organization around vaccination across the life course and within families. The organization remains an advocacy and education body rather than a vaccine manufacturer, medical insurer, or retail provider. Its principal offerings are therefore informational and programmatic: public education, immunization advocacy, support for vaccination registries, and collaboration with health and community institutions.

Vaccinate Your Family began in 1991 as Every Child By Two, a national immunization-awareness project founded by Rosalynn Carter and Betty Bumpers. Its creation followed a serious measles outbreak in the United States in which approximately 150 people died, including young children. The outbreak demonstrated the consequences of incomplete routine immunization and motivated the founders to promote faster and more systematic vaccination of children. The founders sought to use their public profiles and relationships with state leaders to make immunization a national priority. They enlisted governors' spouses to support advocacy and promoted a goal of immunizing 95 percent of U.S. children against diseases such as diphtheria, measles, and rubella by 2000. The original name emphasized the importance of completing key childhood vaccinations by a child's second birthday. Over time, the organization expanded its subject matter beyond the initial childhood schedule. Its educational work addressed a wider range of vaccine-preventable illnesses, including chickenpox, whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and HPV-related disease. This expansion paralleled a broader public-health understanding that immunization is not limited to infancy and that adolescents, adults, older people, and people with particular health risks may also require vaccination. A second element of the organization's work has been support for immunization registries. These systems enable health-care providers to review a child's vaccination history and identify missing or overdue doses. By encouraging the use of registries, the organization has advocated for more coordinated recordkeeping and fewer missed opportunities to vaccinate. The group has operated through partnerships with professional, governmental, educational, and community organizations. Listed partners and collaborators include the American Nurses Association, Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases, Rotary clubs, state health departments, schools, and universities. It has also been connected with the Immunization Advocacy Coalition and is a member of the Vaccine Safety Net. These affiliations place the organization within a wider network of vaccination communicators and public-health advocates. The organization received a Kiwanis International Award and a $10,000 grant in 1995 for its work bringing attention to early immunization. In 2008, it received the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Champion of Prevention Award at the 34th National Immunization Conference. In 2018, Every Child By Two was renamed Vaccinate Your Family. The rebranding communicated a broader mission and a focus on vaccination for families rather than only on the early-childhood milestone implied by the original name. Vaccinate Your Family is an advocacy and education organization, not a vaccine producer or commercial health-care provider. Its activities are centered on awareness, coalition work, support for immunization infrastructure, and promotion of timely vaccination.

• 2018

  Rebranding as Vaccinate Your Family

  [1]Vaccinate Your Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Every Child By Two adopts the name Vaccinate Your Family to represent a broader immunization mission extending beyond early childhood.

• 2008

  CDC Champion of Prevention Award

  [1]Vaccinate Your Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The organization receives the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Champion of Prevention Award at the 34th National Immunization Conference.

• 2000

  Target year for childhood immunization goal

  [1]Vaccinate Your Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The organization's early advocacy framework set 2000 as the target year for immunizing 95 percent of U.S. children against several major vaccine-preventable diseases.

• 1995

  Kiwanis International recognition

  [1]Vaccinate Your Familyen.wikipedia.org

  The organization receives a Kiwanis International Award and a $10,000 grant for increasing public attention to early immunization.

• 1991

  Every Child By Two is founded

  [1]Vaccinate Your Familyen.wikipedia.org

  Rosalynn Carter and Betty Bumpers establish a national immunization-awareness initiative in response to a measles outbreak and concerns about inadequate childhood vaccination coverage.

A nonprofit public-health advocacy organization promoting timely vaccination, informed decision-making, and improved immunization coverage in the United States.

• Public-health education

  Vaccine education materials

  Educational content intended to explain the importance of timely immunization and the risks posed by vaccine-preventable diseases. The materials support communication with families, health professionals, schools, and community organizations rather than functioning as commercial products.

• Advocacy · 1991

  Immunization advocacy programs

  Advocacy initiatives encourage higher vaccination coverage and promote coordinated action by public officials, health departments, professional associations, schools, and community groups. The organization's early work particularly emphasized completing core childhood vaccinations by age two.

• Health-information infrastructure

  Immunization registry support

  The organization supports the use of immunization registries that allow providers to track vaccination histories. Such systems can help identify missed or overdue doses and improve continuity of care, especially when records are distributed across providers or institutions.

• 1991National immunization-awareness project

  United States

  The initiative founded as Every Child By Two mobilized public figures and governors' spouses to promote routine childhood vaccination after a measles outbreak.

  Outcome. It established the organization's continuing role in national immunization advocacy and public education.

  Source

• 2018

  Adopt the Vaccinate Your Family nameStrategy

  Background

  The original Every Child By Two name emphasized vaccination by a child's second birthday, while the organization's educational and advocacy scope had expanded to additional diseases and vaccination needs across the family.

  Action taken

  The organization changed its public identity to Vaccinate Your Family.

  Aftermath

  The new name positioned the organization around a broader, family-oriented and life-course approach to immunization.

  Source

1. 1Vaccinate Your Familyen.wikipedia.org