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As you may have heard, there is a possibility of inclement weather across Washington state over the next couple of days. Please review the guidance and resources below and ensure you have plans in place for yourself and for vaccine storage.
Please join the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and the Washington Vaccine Association (WVA) for our annual Childhood Vaccine Program (CVP) billing & eligibility webinar on March 27, 2025. This webinar is recommended for all personnel involved in billing childhood vaccines, clinic staff who administer and document vaccines, as well as providers and clinic managers. We offer this webinar annually and the content is reviewed and updated each year. We recommend that you participate in this webinar annually to stay up to date on any changes. If you’re unable to join us for the live webinar, you can access the webinar recording, training content, & FAQ on our Childhood Vaccine Program Training webpage.
Date: March 27, 2025
Time: 12 noon
Register Here
This training will provide an overview of program billing and patient eligibility screening requirements, including:
- How patient eligibility status applies to billing guidelines
- An overview of the WVA
- How to bill the WVA Dosage-Based Assessment (DBA) for children with private/commercial insurance
- How to access materials and seek assistance from the WA DOH and the WVA
The CDC is currently distributing the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which is set to expire on April 30, 2025. Please note that this vaccine will not have a shelf-life extension.
The CDC will continue distributing these doses, which expire in April, until approximately 18 days before the expiration date. Therefore, the current lot will remain available for orders until April 10, 2025.
These doses will be the final Novavax vaccines available for the 2024–2025 season
As per last month’s update, new temperature monitors (TagAlert) are being used in refrigerated shipments from McKesson. Upon opening the box, providers should immediately press the blue Stop and Start button until the Stop Icon appears. Then, they should read the indicator status to determine if the appropriate temperature was maintained during transit. Each shipment includes a flyer with directions and pictures to assist staff responsible for receiving the vaccines.
Reminders:
- EcoFlex coolers must be returned for reuse. These coolers have a UPS shipping label attached to the inner box flap.
- KoolTemp coolers do not need to be returned to McKesson and can be discarded.
- Refrigerated and frozen TagAlerts do not need to be returned to McKesson and can also be discarded.
Several VIS were updated at the end of January. Please replace any outdated VIS with the current versions and ensure the VIS publication dates in your facility’s Electronic Health Record are updated. See image below that shows VIS for the most commonly used childhood vaccines that were updated 1/31/25.
You can access all VIS and translated versions at: https://www.immunize.org/vaccines/vis/. You can also access current VIS and COVID EUAs at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/current-vis/index.html and VIS requirements at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/about-vis/
Do you provide health care to pregnant people in Washington state? Please share your thoughts on vaccination concerns, barriers, and benefits by taking a 10-minute survey. This survey is being conducted by Vax Northwest (a partnership of Kaiser Permanente Washington, WithinReach, Washington State Department of Health and several other organizations and individuals). The results will inform strategies and efforts related to improving care related to vaccines recommended during pregnancy in Washington state. If you have any technical issues completing this survey, send an email to the project team. The survey will be open until April 7, 2025.
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The Office of Immunization collaborated with Seattle Children’s Hospital residents to create a 14-minute combination (combo) vaccine video. This resource will help vaccinators learn more about available combo vaccines, how to incorporate these vaccines into the routine immunization schedule, and walks through common questions related to these vaccines.
The Department of Health will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, April 2 from 12-1pm to discuss measles surveillance, clinical manifestations, vaccine recommendations, vaccination coverage, and reporting guidelines in Washington state. The webinar will be recorded and continuing education credits will be available for nurses, medical assistants, and pharmacists/pharmacy techs.
Register here using TRAIN
Learning Objectives
- Describe measles surveillance in WA and nationally
- Describe measles clinical manifestation, transmission, and vaccine recommendations
- Discuss vaccination coverage in Washington State
- Identify guidelines related to measles specimen collection, reporting and outbreak control
We changed our process for registering for our clinical immunization webinars and obtaining continuing education credits. Webinar attendees are now required to create an account in TRAIN.org in order to register for immunization webinars and instantly generate continuing education certificates or a certificate of completion. Please follow the steps outlined below to create an account and register for clinical immunization webinars.
Create an Account with TRAIN.org
- Go to TRAIN.org
- Select Create an Account
- You’ll get a prompt to the register page--fill out the following information:
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- Login name
- Password
- Confirm Password
- Email Address
- First Name
- Last Name
- Zip Code
- Check the box to agree to all TRAIN policies
- Click on Create Account
- The HOME page will open, and a window will pop up informing you that your profile is incomplete
- Please complete your profile to be able to register for the trainings
- Click on Your profile is incomplete
- Complete all profile sections with the highlighted green checkmark
- Register for Courses and Access the Immunization Webinars
- You can log into TRAIN.org and search for WA-DOH-OI webinars and click on the course you want to take
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) updated resources in their NFID Resource Library to help increase awareness and prevent further spread of measles:
Stay up to date on the Measles Outbreak and find Measles Resources
Have your digital data loggers recently been calibrated? Don't forget to update your Provider Agreement in the IIS with the new calibration dates. You can request your current provider agreement be put in "Returned" status at any time throughout the year to make any necessary updates.
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