Author: Viviana Sanchez-Gomez

Protect Your Patients from Influenza

We expect a high number of influenza cases this winter. Vaccination is the most effective tool available to prevent severe respiratory illness and hospitalization. Nationally, there were 200 pediatric flu-related death in the 2023-2024 season, and one pediatric death resulting from flu this season. The ideal time to receive the influenza vaccine is now, before holiday gatherings and influenza peaks. Below, review eligibility recommendations from the CDC and stay updated on flu products available to order through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.

Recommendations for Flu Immunization and Co-Administration

CDC recommends:

Everyone aged six months and older should get an annual influenza vaccination.

If needed, influenza and other vaccines (e.g., COVID-19, RSV, nirsevimab) may be given at the same visit.

VFC Products Available for the 2024 – 2025 Flu Season

You can order influenza vaccine anytime—no need to wait between orders or complete a reconciliation.

Visit our website for instructions on how to place your order.

Holiday Season Delivery Delays

The vaccine distribution center will have reduced delivery capacity during the holiday season. Orders submitted during this time will take longer than usual to ship.

November

Place your order by Friday, November 15, 2024, at 12 p.m. Orders placed after this date may not ship until December 2, 2024.
No vaccine delivery on November 28, 2024, and November 29, 2024.

December

Place your order by Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 12 p.m. Orders placed after this date may not ship until early January 2025.
No delivery from December 23, 2024, through December 31, 2024.

January

No delivery January 1, 2025, and January 2, 2025.
January 3, 2025: Regular ordering resumes.

Be sure to check the status of your order within two business days of submitting.

Continue to check for tracking information daily as FedEx and UPS delivery delays continue. Use this job aid to assist you with reviewing this information.

For assistance with completing your reconciliation or submitting your order, email our team at DPHProviderhelp@phila.gov.

RSV Ordering Update

Beginning Monday, October 28, 2024, all RSV orders will require current temperature files and a current reconciliation due on the day the order is placed.

Routine Immunizations, RSV, and COVID-19 vaccine orders: Current temperature data and reconciliation due the same day as the order.

Flu vaccine orders: Current temperature data and reconciliation due within two weeks of the 1st seasonal order. After the initial order, the current reconciliation is due every 60 days.

Help Us Improve Our Trainings

Are our trainings helpful for your clinic? Let us know how we can improve and share what you’d like to see from us in the future.

Many of you may be familiar with our provider training videos, which are available on our YouTube page. To improve the quality of our trainings, we are asking that you complete this short survey.

Take the Quick Survey

Training Videos

Online Ordering & Clinic Tools Training
Required Vaccine Webinars

Beyfortus Open Ordering Now Available

VFC providers are now welcome to order Beyfortus as needed. The CDC has released a limited amount in each wave, so we encourage sites to order early. Orders may be adjusted to ensure equity among patient populations.

Dosages:

RSV comes in two dosages:

50 mg
100 mg

Both dosages are administered as an intramuscular injection with a single-dose, pre-filled syringe and should be ordered to be properly administered by weight.

Eligible Patients

Infants aged <8 months born during or entering their first RSV season
- 1 dose of nirsevimab (50 mg for infants <5 kg and 100 mg for infants ≥5 kg)
- Do not give two doses of the 50 mg product in place of the 100 mg product
Children aged 8-19 months who are at increased risk of severe RSV disease and entering their second RSV season
- 200 mg nirsevimab, administered by two 100 mg syringes

For questions or concerns, reach out to Victor Obeck at victor.obeck@phila.gov or our Ordering Team at DPHproviderhelp@phila.gov.

Mpox Vaccine: Holiday Notice

Mpox vaccine deliveries will be paused during the week of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 14-18, 2024.

Ordering will remain open this week until Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.

The last delivery for mpox vaccine will be on Thursday, October 10, 2024. Remember to submit your temperatures to tempcheck@phila.gov and complete a reconciliation of vaccine on hand for your order to be approved.

Deliveries for mpox vaccine will resume on the week of October 21, 2024. If you have any questions, please contact Danny Reed at danny.reed@phila.gov.

Click the button below to submit your order request for mpox vaccine.

Mpox Vaccine Request Form

2024 – 2025 COVID-19 Vaccines Available to Order

As a reminder, the federally funded Bridge Access Program (BAP) ended on August 12, 2024. Last season’s 2023- 2024 COVID-19 vaccines are now unauthorized and should not be administered.

If you have not done so already, remove all 2023 – 2024 COVID-19 vaccines from storage units and return any unused product. Use this guide to assist you.

The Immunization Program has been awarded limited funds to allow providers previously enrolled in the BAP to order a small quantity of updated 2024 – 2025 Spikevax (Moderna) to vaccinate uninsured and underinsured adults at their practice.

Please note that these doses are limited. Large orders may be reduced due to limited supply. You can order 2024 – 2025 COVID-19 vaccine today. Upload a complete reconciliation of your current COVID-19 inventory and temperature files with every order.

If you have questions regarding your site’s allocations, contact Nyandra McFadden at nyandra.mcfadden@phila.gov.

We value your efforts in vaccinating underinsured and uninsured adults and want to express our gratitude for your continued participation in our programs.

Training Videos: School Required Immunizations

Pennsylvania law requires all students (K-12) to be vaccinated while attending school. Students who do not have the required vaccines may be excluded from school until they receive the appropriate vaccines.

Since the 2020 school year, national coverage with state-required vaccines among kindergarten students has declined.

Work with parents and guardians to schedule vaccination appointments to help get your patients on track with immunizations.

Training Videos

We have created a series of short training videos to support your practice. The videos cover topics including school immunization requirements, the ACIP child and adolescent immunization schedule, information on specific vaccines, vaccine interval spacing, and Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reporting.

View Training Videos

VFAAR Flu Ordering Opens Tomorrow

VFAAR providers can order flu vaccine for the 2024-2025 season starting tomorrow, Wednesday, September 11. Make sure your site is ready!

All flu vaccine from the 2023-2024 season must be wasted or returned before you can order flu vaccine for the 2024-2025 season. Guidance on accounting for remaining doses can be found here. To account for any unused 2023-24 VFC/VFAAR flu vaccine still at your site using PhilaVax:

Process a return for the unopened vials online in the Vaccines Returns module. A job aid with step-by-step instructions can be found here.
Complete an adjustment for any open MDVs in the Inventory Module. A job aid with step-by-step instructions can be found here.

Due to the limited availability of flu vaccine for adults this season, we will have a maximum ordering threshold per site to ensure everyone has access to the flu vaccine. The Immunization Program will make every effort to fulfill your flu vaccine request. If flu product is available in limited quantity, your order may be reduced.

Additional doses will become available throughout the season.

To place your first adult flu order:

Complete an adult reconciliation (if it’s been more than 2 weeks since your last adult reconciliation).
Submit your temperature data and email the LTD file to TempCheck@Phila.gov. Upload the CSV file into PhilaVax.

Visit our Flu Page for more information on what vaccines are available and to gain access to flu resources and free print materials.

Bridge Access Program Update

Thank you for your continued efforts in ensuring that Philadelphia community members have access to the COVID-19 vaccine. We regret to inform you that the federally funded Bridge Access Program (BAP) has ended before the original closure date of December 31st, 2024. This difficult decision was reached due to congressional rescissions in the FY 2024 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act. With the FDA’s approval of the updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024 – 2025 season, all previous COVID-19 vaccines are now unauthorized for use and should not be administered.

To minimize the risk of vaccine administration errors, providers should:  

Remove all 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccines from storage units immediately, even if they are not expired. 
Return all unused 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccines to McKesson using the normal process for returning spoiled/expired vaccines in PhilaVax. Use this guide to assist you in the return process.
- Mark the reason as “Other” then in the comment box type in Deauthorized.

Next Steps for Vaccinating Uninsured & Underinsured Patients

The FDA has approved and authorized the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

What to Know

Everyone ages 6 months and older should get a 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine.
2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine products are not available through the Bridge Access Program.
The 2023–2024 Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use.

The Immunization Program has been awarded limited funds to allow providers previously enrolled in the Bridge Program to order a small quantity of the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine. Please note that these doses are limited. Review your site’s usage over the 2023-2024 season and order small amounts of COVID-19 vaccine. Large orders may be reduced due to our limited supply. You will be notified when ordering is open in the next few weeks.

We value your efforts in vaccinating underinsured and uninsured adults and want to express our gratitude for your continued participation in our programs. Ensure you are receiving email advisories from vaccines@phila.gov, our primary means for disseminating information to our providers. If you or your colleagues are not receiving advisories, email vaccines@phila.gov.