Weekly Vaccine Update and Order Reminder 12/17

Weekly Vaccine Update and Order Reminder 12/17

Vaccine Delivery Cadence

• Please place Standard orders in myCAvax by Monday, 12/20 at the 5pm deadline. Please note that there will be no Standard order deliveries from 12/23-12/27.
• December’s Holiday Delivery and Ordering Cadence calendar can be found here.

VaxUp Innovation Challenge  

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is partnering with the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Innovation Studio to host the VaxUp Innovation Challenge.  This challenge competition will be open to any non-profit or for-profit who has a creative and scalable idea to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among children and teens in the Los Angeles County area. The 3-phased innovation challenge will include 1) a virtual Idea-a-Thon, 2) User Research and Prototyping phase, and 3) Proof of Concept phase with small grants to support the solution.  More information coming soon!  Interested?  Please email Margeaux Akazawa (makazawa@chla.usc.edu ) to get the latest updates on this exciting Challenge.

FDA Amendment to Janssen/J&J EUA

Yesterday, ACIP met to review the most recent Janssen data on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). CDC endorsed the ACIP recommendation that mRNA vaccine is preferred over Janssen vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 for those 18+. See full statement and language here: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1216-covid-19-vaccines.html

Of note, getting a Janssen/J&J vaccine is still recommended and better than no vaccine and TTS is still considered a rare outcome. More information on the TTS associated cases can be found in the ACIP presentation of Dr. See here: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2021-12-16/02-COVID-See-508.pdf

Contraindication to Janssen COVID-19 vaccine: People with a history of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following Janssen COVID-19 vaccine or any other adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine (e.g., AstraZeneca).

Updated FDA EUA fact sheet here: https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/janssen-covid-19-vaccine

Pfizer Shelf-Life Extension for Purple Cap Product

FDA has approved an amendment to the EUA for Pfizer to extend the expiration date from 6 to 9 months. Cartons and vials of Pfizer vaccine with an expiry date of August 2021 through February 2022 printed on the label may remain in use for 3 months beyond the printed date as long as authorized storage conditions between -90C and -60C have been maintained.

This extension applies to batches that might have expired prior to the approval of the extension provided they have been stored in ULT storage. Once vaccine is removed from ULT to freezer (2 weeks) and refrigerator (30 days), the expiration date will be the new Beyond Use Date (BUD).

Printed Expiry Date	Updated Expiry Date
October 2021	January 2022
November 2021	February 2022
December 2021	March 2022
January 2022	April 2022
February 2022	May 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pfizer Adult Tris-sucrose(Gray Cap) Transition 

CDPH has created a new tool to assist with the transition from of the adult Pfizer product from Purple Cap to Gray Cap which can be found here.

Pfizer Trainings

Links for Pfizer trainings through January 2022 and medical updates can be found here.

Booster Recommendations

• Under new recommendations by theCDC and Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup (joint statement linked), providers may now administer booster doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (but not other brands) to 16-to-17-year-olds at least 6 months after their initial Pfizer vaccination series.
• Additionally, CDC now recommends that everyone ages 18 and older should get a booster dose either when they are 6 months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna series or 2 months after their initial J&J vaccine
• Beginning December 15, CDPH will require masks to be worn in all indoor public settings irrespective of vaccine status through January 15, 2022.

Boosters for People Fully Vaccinated Outside the U.S. 

Under Emergency Use Instructions (EUI), people who were fully vaccinated with certain COVID-19 vaccines not authorized or approved by FDA are eligible for:

• Pfizer-BioNTech as an additional dose
  • if moderately and severely immunocompromised (≥12 years)
  • 28 days after previous vaccine dose
• Pfizer-BioNTech as a booster dose
  • If > 18 years
  • 6 months after primary series.

These recommendations only apply to Pfizer-BioNTech because the EUI only applies to FDA-approved products.

Omicron Variant (B.1.1.529)

• Classified as variant of concern (VOC) by the U.S. government SARS-CoV-2 Interagency Group (SIG)
  • Detected in 17 US states, >50 countries
  • Likely already widespread by the time it was detected in South Africa
  • Science Brief: Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variant | CDC
  • Unknown if more transmissible
    • Likely more transmissible than original SARS-CoV2, but unknown compared to Delta
  • Anecdotal evidence that symptoms may be milder
  • Unknown if any effect on vaccine-induced immunity
    • Anticipate vaccination to continue to protect against hospitalization and death.
    • Vaccines continue to play a critical role in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • An updated Omicron fact sheet can be found here.

Updated Clinical Considerations

Here you will find the updated CDC Interim Clinical Considerations to reflect booster dose recommendations for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Shipping hour validations in myCAvax

myCAvax shipping hours are used for scheduling standard and small order deliveries. Please log into myCAvax and confirm that your shipping hours are correct for each of your active location accounts if you will have an altered holiday schedule.