Notices

Protect Your Patients from Flu, COVID-19, and RSV

There are currently high rates of respiratory illness nationwide, including flu, COVID-19, and RSV. Continue to recommend immunization to prevent severe illness and hospitalization. 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) may be given at the same visit.
Infants six months and older may receive influenza and COVID-19 vaccines at the same visit when they receive the RSV preventive antibody, nirsevimab.

Please ensure that children under nine years of age who have received only one dose of influenza vaccine across all previous seasons return for their second dose four weeks later (refer to figure).

No longer available for ordering:

FluMist (AstraZeneca / 66019-0310-10)

Available to order for VFC-eligible patients

Fluzone (Sanofi / 49281-0639-15)
Flucelvax (Sequirus / 70461-0323-03)
FluLaval (GSK / 19515-0814-52)

VFC Products Available for the 2023-2024 Flu Season

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

As a reminder, educational and promotional print materials related to flu and COVID-19 immunization are available to order on our website.

Additional Resources

Mpox Vaccine: Presidents’ Day Reminder

The City of Philadelphia is closed on Monday, February 19, 2024, in observance of Presidents’ Day. Be sure to submit your Mpox vaccine requests by Tuesday, February 20, at 5 p.m. to account for the holiday. Regular deliveries resume on Wednesday and Thursday of that week (week of February 19).

Remember to submit your temperatures to tempcheck@phila.gov and complete a reconciliation of the vaccine on hand for your order to be approved.

If you have any questions, contact Marguerite Horton at marguerite.horton@phila.gov.

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

Order Mpox Vaccine

Beyfortus (Nirsevimab) Supply and Borrowing Update

The supply of nirsevimab allocated to the Vaccines For Children (VFC) program has been depleted. Therefore, no doses are available to order for the remainder of the 2023-2024 respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season.

As we approach the end of the RSV season on March 31st, we urge all VFC sites to utilize any remaining doses of nirsevimab in stock. For those with nirsevimab doses on hand, we strongly recommend immunizing all eligible infants against RSV. Previous guidance to offer nirsevimab to all infants less than eight months of age and to high-risk infants 8-19 months of age should be followed. It is no longer necessary to prioritize or reserve doses.

To ensure that as many eligible infants as possible are immunized:

Bidirectional borrowing of Beyfortus is permitted between now and March 31, 2024.
VFC-provided doses can be administered to private and CHIP-insured patients.
Private doses administered to VFC-eligible patients will be replaced.
Doses borrowed during this time will be tracked for replacement in the fall.
To borrow doses, reach out to Victor Obeck at victor.obeck@phila.gov .
This supersedes previous messaging on borrowing.

Thank you for your continued efforts to ensure the timely and effective administration of vaccines.

For further information or questions, reach out to Victor Obeck at victor.obeck@phila.gov.

Reminder for Bridge Access Providers

Only adults 18 and over who are uninsured or underinsured are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine under the Bridge Access Program (BAP).

Screening an individual for eligibility before giving a BAP COVID-19 dose is a requirement outlined in the provider agreement.

Uninsured: an individual who does not have health insurance.
Underinsured: an individual with health insurance, but the insurance does not cover the total cost of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Any individual with health insurance that covers the total cost of a COVID-19 vaccine would be ineligible for a BAP dose. Many insurance plans will cover the cost of the COVID-19 vaccine, including Medicaid, Medicare, and some private health insurance plans.

Notes:

Redistribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is not permitted under the BAP. Unauthorized redistribution of Bridge doses may result in a suspension or termination from the program.
If your practice has multiple locations, you will not be able to redistribute doses between the locations.

Every site interested in being enrolled in the BAP must complete enrollment individually. Complete the Bridge Program Interest Form to begin the enrollment process.

Find the form using the button below:

Bridge Program Interest Form

Lunch & Learn: Injection Safety Best Practices

Lunch & Learn: Injection Safety Best Practices

Join us for an informative, virtual session on Friday, February 2, 2024 from 12 to 1 p.m. This session is for outpatient providers.

The Immunization Program is partnering with the Healthcare Associated Infections/Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Program within the Division of Disease Control for this lunch & learn session entitled Give Your Best Shot: Injection Safety Best Practices for Infection and Injury Prevention.

Session Information:

Title: Give Your Best Shot: Injection Safety Best Practices for Infection and Injury Prevention

Summary: Infection control lunch & learn with a focus on injection safety

Invitees: Outpatient providers and direct care staff

Speakers:

Charlotte Gallagher, BSN, RN, infection preventionist
Mayssa Abuali, MD, pediatric infectious diseases specialist

Agenda:

Presentation: “Give Your Best Shot: Injection Safety Best Practices for Infection and Injury Prevention”
Presentation: “Respiratory Viral Activity and Immunization Update” by Dr. Mayssa Abuali
Resources: PDPH infection prevention and control resources and services for outpatient clinics

Time: Friday, February 2, 2024, 12 – 1 p.m.

Location: Zoom

Register for the Meeting!

COVID-19 Vaccine Returns

COVID-19 Vaccine Returns

Unopened vaccines should be returned when:

The manufacturer expiration date has passed.
The vaccines are no longer viable due to out-of-range temperatures.
The vaccine has passed its beyond-use-date (BUD).

When returning COVID-19 vaccines that have passed their beyond-use-date,
remember to select Other as the return reason and include “Past BUD [insert the
BUD date]” in the comments section.*

Process a return for expired or non-viable vaccines in PhilaVax. Use this guide to assist you in the return process.

*New BUD labels are available for order. View this recent advisory for the ordering page and BUD label instructions.

Reminders

When to waste vaccine:

Opened non-viable vaccines should be wasted out of inventory in
PhilaVax. Use this guide to assist you in the wastage process.
Wasted vaccines include:
- Open multi-dose vials where not all doses have been administered.
- Broken vials/syringes.
- Vaccine drawn up into a syringe but not administered.

Mpox Vaccine: MLK Day Reminder

Mpox Vaccine: MLK Day Reminder

The City of Philadelphia is closed on January 15, 2024 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Be sure to submit your mpox vaccine requests by Tuesday, January 16 at 5 p.m. to account for the holiday. Normal deliveries resume on Wednesday and Thursday of that week (week of January 15).

Remember to submit your temperatures to tempcheck@phila.gov and complete a reconciliation of vaccine on hand for your order to be approved.

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

If you have any questions, please contact Marguerite Horton at marguerite.horton@phila.gov.

Order mpox vaccine

Join Us for a PCP Measles Update

Join Division of Disease Control (DDC) infectious disease experts Dr. Shara Epstein and Dr. Mayssa Abuali for a virtual measles update for primary care providers (PCPs). In a recent advisory, we encouraged pediatric providers to catch up patients on their MMR vaccination.

This informative session is for PCPs who would like to learn more about recent measles cases from physicians working in outbreak response with the Department of Public Health.

Meeting details:

Date: Friday, January 12, 2024

Time: 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

RSVP for the meeting

Action Required: PhilaVax User Account Renewal

Dear PhilaVax Users,

PDPH’s Immunization Program is currently undergoing our annual PhilaVax user account renewal.

All users must complete the user agreement for the 2024 calendar year for continued access to PhilaVax.

All agreements must be completed by February 7th, 2024. Users without an updated agreement by this date will be unable to log into PhilaVax, and their accounts will be rendered inactive until the agreement is completed.

Find the form using the button below:

PhilaVax User Agreement Form

Catch Up Pediatric Patients: MMR Vaccine

Catch Up Pediatric Patients: MMR Vaccine

There is a measles cluster in Philadelphia that started with an infant and spread to unvaccinated individuals. It has resulted in now 7 confirmed cases of measles among Philadelphia residents and an index case in Delaware county.

To prevent further spread, review your pediatric patients’ records for MMR vaccine and recall any patients who are not up to date. Consider nurse-only visits to get patients in faster.

Measles is highly infectious and can be especially dangerous to children under 5, pregnant people, and immunocompromised individuals. CDC recommends children get their first MMR dose at 12-15 months and the second dose at 4-6 years.

You can order a free measles flyer below.

Order a measles flyer!