Association of Immunization Managers Announces the 2024 Bull’s-Eye Award Winners

The three 2024 Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) Bull’s-Eye Award recipients and winning immunization initiatives are:

• Indiana Department of Health Immunization Division, Thinking Outside the Box – Pharmacies as Vaccines for Children (VFC) Providers

• Virginia Department of Health Division of Immunization, Virginia VFC Replacement Model – Simplifying the VFC Program for Hospital Systems

• Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Public Health Detailing: An Innovative Approach to Improving Vaccination Coverage

The AIM Bull’s-Eye Award for Innovation and Excellence in Immunization is presented annually to three state, territorial, or urban area immunization programs (awardees) in recognition of an outstanding immunization initiative. The award celebrates immunization programs’ strategic initiatives that “hit their mark,” achieving goals and increasing awareness by encouraging replication in other programs. This year’s Bull’s Eye Award winners will present their initiatives at the 2024 AIM Leadership in Action Conference in New Orleans, LA.

The winners for this year’s award were chosen by a committee of their peers. Highlights from the 2024 winning immunization programs include:

• The Indiana Department of Health Immunization Division’s initiative expanded the accessibility of free vaccines for children through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program by increasing the number of pharmacies where parents can get their children vaccinated. They partnered with Kroger pharmacies on this initiative. As of September 1, 2024, all 112 Kroger pharmacies in the state of Indiana have been enrolled in the VFC program.

• The Virginia Department of Health Division of Immunization’s initiative highlighted the importance of providing newborns with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) protection within one week of birth by simplifying enrollment of birthing hospitals in their VFC program. This initiative increased the accessibility of free RSV protection for more children at birth.

• The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s initiative used data from their immunization information system (IIS) to find high-volume pediatric medical providers. The initiative then targeted these providers for an education campaign on evidence-based strategies and practices that raise immunization coverage rates for children.

For more information on the AIM Bull’s-Eye Award and the 2024 winners, please visit the AIM Awards page. AIM would also like to thank Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Virginia, and Washington for sharing the promising initiatives in their jurisdictions. Visit the AIM Program Practice Database to view more innovative initiatives of immunization programs.

“AIM is proud of the incredible work done by the Indiana, Virginia, and Colorado immunization programs. Congratulations to these recipients of the 2024 AIM Bull’s-Eye Award, we look forward to watching these initiatives continue to grow and improve vaccine access and coverage!” said AIM Executive Director Claire Hannan.

About Association of Immunization Managers

The Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) is a nonprofit membership association comprised of the directors of the 64 federally funded state, territorial, and local public health immunization programs. AIM is dedicated to working with its partners nationwide to reduce, eliminate, or eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases. AIM also works to ensure the success of its members by providing support in their programming interests. Since 1999, AIM has enabled collaboration among immunization managers to effectively control vaccine-preventable diseases and improve immunization coverage in the United States. For more information on AIM, please visit www.immunizationmanagers.org/