Bridge Program and COVID-19 Commercialization – Page 2

Interested in the COVID-19 Bridge Program?

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.

Bridge Program Interest Form

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.

Commercialization of COVID-19 Vaccine

Commercialization of COVID-19 Vaccine

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 do not have an exact date or timeline for commercialization, but we want to provide as much lead time as we can for our VFC providers about this upcoming change.

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.

What does this mean?

There will not be a separate COVID-19 Provider Program as currently exists.

All VFC providers will be required to maintain a supply of COVID-19 vaccine for the entire patient population they serve. As with other ACIP recommended vaccines, your practice will need to stock COVID-19 vaccine for both VFC eligible children and privately insured patients once commercialization occurs.

Why is this important?

COVID-19 vaccine is an ACIP-recommended vaccine and has been added to the CDC Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule.
Your patients may not have access to COVID-19 vaccine elsewhere. Pharmacies are not authorized to vaccinate kids under 3 years of age, so your practice may be the only place your patients can get vaccinated.
A very low percentage (<20%) of kids 6 months – 4 years have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Philadelphia, which means they may not be protected against severe disease and death from COVID-19.

Did you know?

You don’t need an ultra-low freezer to store COVID-19 vaccine! You can store COVID-19 vaccines in your regular storage units.
Providers should never turn down an opportunity to vaccinate for COVID-19 due to fears of vaccine wastage! We expect smaller packaging sizes of vaccine to be available this fall with commercialization.

Please be on the lookout for updated messages from the Immunization Program about commercialization throughout the summer. Have questions or concerns? Direct them to vaccines@phila.gov.