Bridge Program and COVID-19 Commercialization

COVID-19 Program Ends Today

Today, Tuesday, September 12, 2023, marks the end of PDPH’s COVID-19 program and the beginning of commercialization.

Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines are no longer be authorized for use. Any remaining products in your inventory must be immediately discarded.

Use of unauthorized product to vaccinate patients is not allowed. Instead, providers may privately purchase new 2023-2024 COVID-19 products or enroll in the Bridge Access Program to receive vaccine for eligible patients. Ordering for VFC/Bridge Access enrolled providers will open later this week after today’s ACIP meeting.

We want thank you all for your participation in this program helping to vaccinate Philadelphia residents against the COVID-19 virus. We hope that we can continue to work together to protect Philadelphians from vaccine preventable diseases. 

Starting today, you can privately purchase new 2023-2024 COVID-19 products to vaccinate patients with private insurance and enroll in the Bridge Access Program to receive vaccine for eligible patients.

Bridge Access Program

Eligible providers interested in continuing to receive federally funded COVID-19 vaccine are encouraged to enroll in the Bridge Access Program. This program ensures the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccine to underinsured and uninsured patients 19 years and older. 

Submit a pre-enrollment form today to begin the enrollment process and be among the first providers to offer 2023 – 2024 authorized COVID-19 vaccine to Philadelphia residents.

Urgent Update on COVID-19 Program

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s (PDPH) COVID-19 program is expected to end this Tuesday, 9/12 when full commercialization begins.

Any COVID-19 vaccine in your inventory received from PDPH will no longer be authorized for use. All remaining inventory must be reported as wastage and removed from both your PhilaVax and Vaccine Finder inventories. These doses should then be discarded following the guidelines used by your site.

Additionally, if you received a PDPH Digital Data Logger to monitor your COVID vaccine, we will be in contact to schedule a pick-up of this device.

Reporting of COVID Vaccine

With the commercialization of COVID-19 vaccine, please report the administration of these vaccines with your routine immunization data submissions to the Immunization Information System.

Bridge Access Program

As a reminder enrollment for the Bridge Access Program is live! If your patient population includes underinsured and uninsured individuals 19 years of age and older you may apply for pre-enrollment using the link below!

Thank you!

We want to thank all sites for participating in the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Program. Through your hard work and diligent efforts we were able to vaccinate many Philadelphians and bring greater health to our residents.

Bridge Access Program Pre-Enrollment is Live

Please complete the pre-enrollment survey below. This survey will provide our team with key information to determine if your site is eligible for enrollment.  

The survey does not generate a confirmation email automatically. Our team will review your responses and reach out to you within 48 hours to provide next steps and/or to request additional information as needed.

As a reminder, the Bridge Access Program allows providers who see underinsured and uninsured adults 19+ to continue receiving government funded COVID-19 vaccine following commercialization. 

If you have additional questions about enrollment you may email the COVID-19 Coordinator, nyandra.mcfadden@phila.gov.  

COVID-19 Vaccine Commercialization Town Hall

COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available for purchase on the commercial market and will be available to order through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program. We will host 2 town halls tomorrow, August 10, to help with this transition.

Commercialization of COVID-19 vaccines will transition vaccines previously purchased by the U.S. government to established pathways of procurement, distribution, and payment by both public and private payers. The Bridge Access Program will support providers to vaccinate uninsured and underinsured adults 19 years of age and older in Philadelphia county.

Commercialization of COVID-19 vaccine is expected to take place in August or September 2023, with the exact timeline still forthcoming. Read the revised FAQ and learn more about COVID-19 vaccine commercialization.  

Tomorrow, August 10, we will host 2 town halls to discuss COVID-19 vaccine commercialization and the Bridge Access Program. Register for the town hall that best fits your schedule below. 

Interested in the COVID-19 Bridge Program?

The Immunization Program will soon be launching a new vaccine program called the Bridge Program. Read on for more information, and complete the interest form below by July 14th!

The Bridge Program is a COVID-19 vaccine program for uninsured and underinsured adults 19 years of age and older in Philadelphia county.

The program will only offer COVID-19 vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults, 19 and older.

Sites that wish to enroll in the Bridge Program will need to complete an enrollment form. This includes sites that are already enrolled in the COVID-19 program.

Provider Eligibility

• Providers already seeing or are willing to see uninsured or underinsured adults, 19 years of age and older.
• Providers who want to offer COVID-19 vaccine to their eligible patients.
• Providers that can estimate the number of uninsured or underinsured adults their site currently sees or will see. Note: This information will be required on the Bridge Program enrollment form. Sites will not be able to enroll without this information.

Who counts as uninsured or underinsured?

• Adults not covered by any health insurance plan.   
• Adults who have health insurance, but coverage does not include any vaccines.
• Adults who have health insurance, but coverage does not include all vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
• Adults who have health insurance, but there is a fixed dollar limit or cap for vaccines.

The Immunization Program expects to launch the Bridge Program in early fall, with an exact launch date still forthcoming, but in alignment with commercialization of COVID-19 vaccine.

To gain a better understanding of the numbers of sites interested in participating in the Bridge Program, we ask you to complete the above survey by Friday, July 14, 2023.