VFAAR

Be Ready!: Update Your Vaccine Management Plan Today!

Update Your Vaccine Management Plan Today!

Summer means storm season, and to help you be prepared, we’ve created a new Vaccine Management Plan.

It has all the information you need to:

Store your vaccine safely.
Respond to an emergency.
Transport your vaccine during an emergency.

Don’t wait until the storm, comes take action today:

Review the document with all the staff that works with VFC, VFAAR, or COVID vaccine at your site.
Gather the supplies indicated on pages 14-17 of the document.
Fill out the information on the first page of the document.
- Fax (215-238-6948) or email (TempCheck@phila.gov) a copy to our office by Friday, August 12th.
Post the full document on your vaccine storage unit.
- You can print a copy today or keep an eye out for a copy in the mail this week!

Make sure your site’s backup storage locations are appropriate for vaccine storage:

Approved
- Doctor’s offices freezer compartment of combination units
- Hospital Pharmacies
- Pharmacies
- Approved Unit at Another Clinic
Not Approved
- Personal Home Freezers
- Personal Deep Freezers
- Freezer Compartment of a Combination Unit
- Storage Containers with Dry Ice

Be ready to move vaccine in an emergency. Gather the supplies needed to transport your refrigerated and frozen vaccine today!

Have questions? Reach out to our team at TempCheck@phila.gov for assistance.

Storage Unit Reminder

Vaccines can only be stored in certain acceptable storage units. Your vaccine storage unit is a key component in maintaining the vaccine cold chain at your practice.

Your vaccine storage units must:

Consistently maintain storage temperature.
Have enough space to properly store vaccines throughout the year including back to school and flu season.
Have separate external doors for refrigerator and freezer.
Have Do Not Unplug stickers at the outlet, on unit, and on the circuit breaker.
Order Do Not Unplug stickers here.

All units must be plugged directly into a dedicated wall outlet. Units cannot be plugged into:

GFI/GFCI outlets (specialized outlets with a built-in breaker, may have reset buttons)
Outlets that can be activated by a wall switch
Extension cords, power strips, surge protectors
Ensure that the unit, plug, and circuit breaker on the electric panel are clearly labeled to prevent accidental loss of power.

Selecting a unit to store your vaccines in is an important decision.

Purchasing a unit that is reliable and accurate up-front is a worthwhile investment, both in time and money, for your practice. The time needed to respond to out of range temperatures and the cost of reimbursement for wasted vaccines can be very burdensome for practices whose unit does not maintain in-range temperatures.

To ensure that the unit that you are considering is the best option for your clinic, email our program at TempCheck@phila.gov so that we can offer insight on the units that are being considered based on other providers experiences with a brand, the typical supply on hand at your practice, and other considerations based on the CDC recommendations for storage units.

Additional VFAAR Flu Vaccine Presentations Available to Order

These vaccines are now available to order for your adult patients:

Flucelvax prefilled syringes
Fluzone multidose vials

FluLaval pre-filled syringes are currently not available to order.Please visit our flu ordering page for more information on the available vaccines.To learn who is eligible to receive VFAAR flu this year, review our advisory from October 26.

Order flu vaccine today!

Have questions?

Contact Christine Wilson at 215.685.6728 or christine.wilson@phila.gov or Charma Miller at 215.685.6667 or charma.miller@phila.gov for assistance.Thank you for keeping Philadelphia healthy by fighting flu! For more information about influenza in Philadelphia, visit our flu page.