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Third Special Session of Texas Legislature ends with no anti-vaxx bills passed |
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We did it! The third special session of the Texas Legislature ended Oct. 19 without the passage in either chamber of any bill that threatened to weaken the state’s vaccine requirements and undo decades of sound, public health policies. Lawmakers filed more than 40 anti-vaccination bills across the three special sessions and with your help TIP helped defeat all of them! |
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Anti-vaccination bills filed during the 3rd special session ranged from preventing employers, including health care systems, from setting their own health and safety vaccination policies, to SB 51, which prohibited schools and universities from setting COVID-19 vaccine school entry requirements. Hill Powell, our Interim Executive Director testified against that bill, along with many individuals and representatives of business and healthcare entities. At this time, we don’t know if the governor will call a fourth special session or if vaccines and vaccine requirements will be part of that call. Meanwhile, Texans are forced to continue to protect themselves and their families under the governor’s anti-public health executive orders. In the meantime, we will continue to uphold our mission and will ensure legislators and the governor know our position on these types of anti-public health legislation. |
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Our op-ed continues to run across Texas |
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Texas newspapers continue to run our op-ed pointing out that politics, not public health, drive anti-vaxx bills in Texas and across the country. John T. Dugan III, M.D., TIP chair, and Lindy McGee, M.D., member of our Executive Committee, point out that Gov. Greg Abbott and a handful of legislators continue attempts to undo decades of effective and evidence-based public health initiatives at a time when more than 69,000 Texans have died since the start of the pandemic. That is more than the population of Georgetown. You can read the op-ed that ran in the Austin American-Statesman by clicking here. |
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Advocating for ALL vaccines to prevent illness and death |
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This year’s legislative session, with its three special sessions, proved once more the value of individuals who selflessly help TIP and all Texans to keep our communities free from vaccine-preventable diseases. Jamie Schanbaum is one of them. She survived meningococcal septicemia, a severe blood infection caused by the same bacteria as meningitis. Jamie and her family advocated with TIP and others to require meningitis vaccinations for all incoming freshmen. You can read more about her and other remarkable TIP advocates here. |
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Return to school at TIP’s Immunization University We’re offering professional continuing education credit through Immunization University (IZU). This new online platform provides nursing educational courses/modules, which include information about immunizations and vaccine-preventable diseases. The professional continuing education credit for nursing approved credits is through a partnership with Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth. We also offer non-credit courses. All courses are open to everyone, and they are free. |
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IZU courses include:
- Vaccine Safety (Credit and Non-credit)
- Vaccine Hesitancy (Credit and Non-credit
- Vaccine Myths and Misinformation (Credit and Non-credit)
- Immunization 101 (Non-credit)
- Vaccine Preventable Diseases and Your Healthy Classroom (Non-credit – designed for Texas teachers, school administrators, and future teachers)
- COVID-19 Myths and Misinformation (Non-credit)
- COVID-19: Simplifying Vaccine Science (Non-credit)
- How Vaccines Work (Non-credit)
- History of Vaccines (Non-credit)
To take any of the courses, please click here. If you have any question about IZU, the courses, or options to make the course interactive for your college or university, please contact Katy Gore at kgore@immunizeUSA.org. |
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TIP Meme of the Month Take the "trick" out of Halloween. Here's our Trick-or-Treat checklist to keep your night fun and safe. |
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Mobi vs. The Shield Mobi explains community immunity and the importance of keeping those who are unable to receive vaccines safe from harm. You can receive a 50% discount on your book order by using coupon code: TIP English version: Hard cover or Paperback Spanish version: Hard cover or Paperback If you would like to order bulk copies of the book, please email kgore@immunizeUSA.org. |
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TIP animated videos answer COVID vaccine questions, debunk misinformation A series of short videos — created through a unique collaboration between The Immunization Partnership and Amerigroup Texas — seeks to slow the spread of COVID-19 by increasing awareness about the vaccines that fight it. The videos encourage vaccination, answer questions about the vaccine, and debunk falsehoods circulating over social media and elsewhere. Such misunderstandings and misinformation contribute to vaccine hesitancy, drive down vaccination rates, and worsen the strain on health workers and resources. |
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The Immunization Partnership Podcasts |
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Along with our regular podcasts, we now offer a daily immunization news digest: TIP News. You can listen to these podcasts at your convenience on either of our podcast platforms. Vaxx Voice covers general immunization information while Vaxx to the Future features COVID-19 virus and vaccine information. All of our podcast episodes are free. No subscription necessary, and they are available on most podcast platforms. Click on one of the images above to access that podcast. |
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Partner with TIP We partner with a wide variety of stakeholders to effectively collaborate on eradicating vaccine-preventable diseases across Texas. We greatly appreciate the help of these diverse and strong alliances. Here’s where you can learn more about our partners and how to become one. |
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TIP in the News Find out what TIP is saying about COVID-19 and other vaccine-preventable diseases, and what the media are saying about TIP by visiting our TIP in the News page. Also, you can catch up on past Vaxx Voice newsletters here. |
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TIP's mission is to eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases by educating the community, advocating for evidence-based public policy, and supporting immunization best practices. |
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The Immunization Partnership
240 West Galveston Street #1985 | League City, Texas 77574-1985
281-400-3689 | info@immunizeUSA.org |
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