Author: Viviana Sanchez-Gomez

Remind Families About Back to School Vaccines

Prepare your pediatric patients to return to school by getting them caught up with their vaccines. Access reminder recall guidance, free print materials, and more information about vaccination coverage rates below.

According to CDC, vaccination coverage among kindergarten students has declined to its lowest level in decades. There is also a global increase in measles cases and outbreaks that has impacted us locally.

Remind families about school-required vaccinations as well as HPV, COVID-19, and flu.

Reminder and Recall Strategies

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers steps to identify overdue patients including:

Decide on an age range to focus on, if it is not feasible to contact all patients.
Run an IIS query for all patients in your selected age range who are 30+ days behind on vaccination.
Run the same query in the EHR. If you are unsure whether your EHR system has this capability, check with your EHR vendor.

They also suggest strategies for reminder or recall such as:

Social media
Reminder postcards and letters that can be printed and mailed
Message reminders via patient portals

Order Free Print Materials

We offer free print materials including a vaccine coloring sheet, pediatric vaccine schedules, and a new educational brochure for adolescents.

Preview: Take Control of your Health Brochure

Use the button below to order free print materials for your office!

Order Print Materials

Return Expired Doses of Flu Today!

All VFC/VFAAR influenza vaccines supplied by the Philadelphia Immunization Program during the 2023-2024 flu season have expired. Please account for unused VFC/VFAAR flu vaccine at your site using PhilaVax:

Process a return for the unopened vials online in the Vaccine Returns module. A job aid with step-by-step instructions can be found here.
Adjust out open multi dose vials of flu. A job aid with step-by-step instructions can be found here.

Return your vaccine before July 22

Please complete these steps by July 22, 2024 to avoid delays in processing your site’s 2024-2025 flu season orders. If you have any questions or need assistance, contact DPHProviderHelp@phila.gov.

All communication about flu vaccine availability will be made via email and posted on our website. Keep an eye out for upcoming messages!

Thank you for protecting Philadelphians this past year. We look forward to working together to keep people safe from the flu next season.

PhilaVax Temperature Reporting Requirement Update

Important: VFC & VFAAR orders submitted to PhilaVax without temperature data will be rejected. *

We will no longer contact VFC & VFAAR sites to request missing temperature data after the order date. VFC & VFAAR orders will be rejected, and the provider will need to resubmit their order. Remember, a new reconciliation must be completed after two business days to process the order.

Uploading temperature data to PhilaVax and emailing the data to TempCheck@phila.gov have been requirements for several years. The data you submit to the TempCheck team is analyzed for excursions and potential unit malfunctions, helping us maintain our quality control standards. The data submitted to PhilaVax facilitates timely ordering for our 200+ providers throughout the city.

These guides can assist you in submitting your DDL temperature files:

Key Takeaways:

Temperature data must be submitted to PhilaVax and emailed to TempCheck@phila.gov every 28 days and when an order is placed.
Submit temperature data up to and including the day of vaccine order.
For example, if you submit temperature data on Monday and place your order on Tuesday, you must submit temperatures again on Tuesday, or your order will be rejected.
After placing an order, it’s important to check its status within two business days. If the order is rejected, carefully review the VFC comments for instructions on resubmitting it. Remember, a new reconciliation must be completed after two business days to process the order.

For questions and assistance with ordering, reach out to DPHProviderHelp@phila.gov.

*If you are unable to upload to PhilaVax for any reason or feel your site should be exempt from this requirement, please contact TempCheck@phila.gov.

PIC 2024 Fall Conference

Save the date! Join us for the Philadelphia Immunization Coalition’s Fall 2024 Conference.

Our speakers will include Dr. Andrew Kroger (CDC) and Dr. Paul Offit (CHOP), among others to be announced.

Topics covered will include COVID-19, RSV, flu, universal recommendations for
community outreach, vaccine hesitancy, PDPH updates, and more.

Tickets will be $40 and include breakfast, all day coffee, and a wonderful hot lunch.

Continuing education credits will also be provided. Registration will be opening soon, and a link will be shared in an upcoming email.

Hope to see you there!

Event Details

When: Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Time: 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Where: College of Physicians at 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Reach out to angel.brice@phila.gov for any questions.

New Vaccine Product Available Through VFC: Penbraya (MenABCWY)

On October 20, 2023, the FDA licensed Pfizer’s pentavalent vaccine Penbraya to prevent meningococcal serogroups A, B, C, W, and Y.

As a reminder, MenB vaccines are not interchangeable. The same vaccine (either Bexsero by GSK or Trumenba by Pfizer) must be used for all doses in the MenB series, including booster doses. The pentavalent MenABCWY product Penbraya (Pfizer) contains MenB-Fhbp (Trumenba) as its MenB component; therefore, Penbraya should only be used in series with Trumenba.

To add this formulation to the list of vaccines that your site orders, use the button below to complete the change request form.

Change Request Form

Our team will review your request and reply with next steps. We recommend that sites that are affiliated or part of a system use the same vaccine presentations across sites to ensure continuity of care and help prevent administration errors.

To purchase this vaccine in the private market, please contact your local Pfizer sales rep at brian.bengston@pfizer.com.

Penbraya 1 Dose Kit and Penbraya 5 Dose Kit are now available through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends MenABCWY for ages 10 through 25. Penbraya may be used when both MenACWY and MenB are indicated at the same visit. More specifically, MenABCWY is recommended for the following groups based on shared clinical decision-making:
Healthy individuals aged 16 to 23 years due for their MenACWY booster and MenB vaccination at the same visit.
Children 10 years and older with complement deficiency, functional or anatomic asplenia (including sickle cell disease), or receiving complement inhibitors.
CVX code: 316
CPT code: 90623
NDC number: 00069-0600-01 (1 Dose Kit) and 00069-0600-05 (5 Dose Kit)

Resources

How to prepare Penbraya
Prescribing information
Blog post: New meningococcal vaccine for pediatric patients
FDA resource: Penbraya
Immunize.org: Ask the experts
MenACWY VIS: Vaccine information
MenB VIS: Vaccine information
MenB Recommendation Guide
MenABCWY MMWR: Use of the Pfizer pentavalent meningococcal vaccine among persons aged ≥ 10 Years.

If you have any questions, please email vaccines@phila.gov.

2024 Influenza Ordering Survey

Congratulations to last week’s survey winner: Puentes De Salud! But wait, there’s another chance to win and help us better prepare for the next flu season! We will hold a second drawing to win a free buzzy.

To enter our second drawing, use the button below to complete a short survey (less than 3 minutes) by Friday, May 17, 2024.

If you previously filled out the survey, you’ve already entered. Your responses are key to our 2024-2025 flu season planning!

Influenza Ordering Survey

Free Print Materials on the Way!

We’re sending pediatric and adult materials to your office. Preview some of the print materials that are on the way, and order more in different languages!

Preview: Laminated Pediatric Vaccine Schedule

Preview: RSV Palm Card for Adults

Visit our website to order more free print materials for your office.

Available Print Materials

Ordering Tip

Once you have found the materials you want, make a note of their ID#s and head over to the corresponding online ordering form. We recommend opening the online ordering form in a separate tab. This will let you easily switch between the online ordering form and the image galleries.

If you have questions or need help with the ordering process, email us at vaccines@phila.gov.

2024 Influenza Ordering Survey

While flu remains prevalent across the country, the 2023-2024 flu season has seen a drop in coverage, and Philadelphia is no exception.

Fill out this short survey (less than 3 minutes) to help us better prepare for next flu season. Every site that completes the form by Friday, April 26, 2024, will be entered for a chance to win a free buzzy. Your responses are key in our planning for the 2024-2025 flu season!

Influenza Ordering Survey

Tips for Managing Short-Dated COVID-19 Vaccine Inventory

COVID-19 vaccine shipped by McKesson in the following months will be short-dated, meaning the manufacturer expiration dates will be shorter than usual.

McKesson will continue distributing COVID-19 doses until the vaccines are within 30 days of expiry.

Here are some tips for managing short-dated COVID-19 vaccine inventory:

Order smaller quantities of vaccines more frequently while maintaining a 3–4 week vaccine supply.
Make note vaccine expiration dates when receiving shipments and routinely check expiration dates when completing monthly reconciliations.
Rotate short-dated vaccines to the front of the inventory and use them first.
Conduct outreach to Bridge Access Program and Vaccines for Children (VFC) eligible patients and schedule them to get vaccinated before doses expire.

Have questions? Email us at vaccines@phila.gov.

Pediatric Immunization Techniques Training

Join us for a pediatric immunization techniques training for Vaccines for Children (VFC) providers!

The Immunization Program is hosting a free pediatric immunization techniques training for VFC providers. Class participants are limited and will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. A maximum of 21 participants will be accepted. Participants can only attend one training per year.

This half-day, interactive training is tailored to VFC sites only and will focus on the basics of:

Vaccine preventable diseases
Vaccine types
Immunization administration techniques
Pediatric immunization schedules

Training Details:

Hosts: Division of Disease Control, Immunization Program

Date: Thursday, May 16, 2024

Time: 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Location: Jefferson Center 1101, Market St., 13th Floor, Training Room Phila., PA 19107

Presenters:

Beth Smith, BSN, RN – Provider Quality Assurance Nurse
Dom Shannon, BSN, RN – Provider Quality Assurance Nurse
Nichole Holmes, MPH – Training Coordinator

Training Registration Form

We encourage attendance by RNs, LPNs, and MAs who administer vaccines or will administer vaccines in the future. This course is beneficial to new and seasoned practitioners who need a refresher or would like an update on best practices for administering vaccines.

Important note: This training does not offer continuing education credits/units. Upon completion, a certificate will be distributed. We hope to see you there!

If you have any questions, reach out to nichole.holmes@phila.gov.