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At its Oct. 23-24, 2024 meeting, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) approved several new vaccine recommendations, which were promptly adopted by the CDC Director. These updates will be published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) and incorporated into CDC resources in the coming months.
View the summary of the approved recommendations here.
On Oct.17, the CDC released updated Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) for the COVID-19 vaccine, RSV vaccine and cholera vaccine. These updated VISs provide essential information for patients and providers and reflect the latest guidance for vaccine recipients. The CDC encourages health care providers to begin using these updated VISs immediately.
Translated VISs on the Way Immunize.org has announced that they will be developing translations of the updated VISs in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, providers can continue to use existing translated VISs even if they are out of date, as long as they also provide the current English VIS alongside any translation.
Related Links for Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) For easy access to VIS resources, here are relevant links:
New QR Code Tables for Easy Access Immunize.org has introduced two new QR code resources for quick access to the latest VISs. Facilities can print and post these tables to provide patients with instant access to current VISs.
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QR Code Links to All Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) – This 3-page PDF contains QR codes for every available VIS, including those for travel and nonroutine vaccines. A QR code for the main translations page is also included.
- Download QR Code Links to All VISs
QR Code Links to Routinely Recommended Vaccine Information Statements (VISs) – This 2-page PDF contains only QR codes for routinely recommended vaccines for children and adults.
- Download QR Code Links to Routinely Recommended VISs
These QR codes remain up-to-date even when VISs are revised, making them reliable resources for facilities to ensure patients always receive the latest information. If these resources are helpful, you may also find value in Immunize.org's QR Code Links to Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) Translations for Influenza, which provides QR codes for each available translation of the injectable flu vaccine VIS.
Below is the 2024–2025 Vaccine for Children (VFC)/317 & Direct Ship Vaccine Holiday Shipping Calendar. This calendar outlines holiday shipping schedules for McKesson, Pfizer COVID Direct Ship and Merck Direct Ship deliveries to help you plan ahead during the busy winter season.
If you're expecting vaccine orders to arrive before the holidays, please remember:
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Processing Times: Routine shipments from McKesson can take up to four business days to process before they are shipped. For providers without regular business hours (Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.), shipments may take longer.
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Schedule Reminders: This is a great time to ensure that your delivery availability is up to date in KSWebIZ. Accurate business hours in the system will help ensure timely deliveries, especially as shipments may arrive any day of the week, including Mondays, depending on your listed business hours.
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Order Early and Maintain Inventory: To prevent any interruptions, we encourage you to place your orders early. Try to keep a minimum of four weeks of inventory to avoid outages due to potential weather delays or other holiday-related shipping interruptions.
For specific delivery restrictions on federal holidays, consult the calendar. By planning ahead, we can work together to ensure vaccines remain available for our communities throughout the holiday season.
CDC and FDA work together to manage the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a vaccine safety monitoring system. Anyone (patients, parents, healthcare providers, and vaccine manufactures) can and is encouraged to report an adverse event to VAERS. Completing a VAERS report is a simple process that provides valuable information to ensure the continued safety of vaccines.
Healthcare providers are required by law to report adverse events listed by vaccine manufactures as contraindications to further doses of the vaccine or any adverse event listed in the VAERS Table of Reportable Events. While each vaccine has specific related adverse events, these events are always reportable if they occur within seven days after a vaccination (e.g., vasovagal syncope and shoulder injury related to vaccine administration). VAERS also serves as a continuous monitoring system for vaccine safety.
Healthcare providers are also encouraged to report vaccine administration errors and any adverse events that occur after a licensed vaccine is administered even if it’s unclear whether the vaccine caused the event. While it is important to take the time to avoid vaccine administration errors, humans make mistakes. Using VAERS to report vaccine administration errors allows for persistent administration faults to be identified.
VAERS welcomes online reporting at Report an Adverse Event to VAERS. While more information is appreciated, reports at minimum require patient age, date of birth, and sex; vaccine brand name and dosage; date, time and location administered; date and time when adverse event(s) started; symptoms and outcome of adverse events; and applicable physician contact information and medical tests. A VAERS checklist contains all accepted fields in a VAERS report can be used to make sure all data elements are identified.
The Influenza-Like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet) sites monitor patients for influenza-like illness (ILI), which is defined as symptoms of a fever (>100⁰F) and the presence of a cough and/or sore throat. During the week ending Oct. 12, ILINet sites reported 1.9% of visits were due to ILI. Syndromic surveillance indicated that 1.6% of emergency departments visits in Kansas were due to ILI. All data is subject to change.
Influenza activity across the state is currently minimal. During the week ending October 26th, the Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories reported no positive influenza specimens from the 14 specimens tested. As a reminder, outbreaks of any disease are reportable and should be reported to the epidemiology hotline at (877) 427-7317. Stay updated on influenza activity
on our dashboard.
On Oct. 8, 2024, NASTAD released a new toolkit for health department staff new to viral hepatitis. Basic information, recommendations and where to go for help are just a few things covered in the toolkit. Check out toolkit for New Viral Hepatitis Health Department Staff | NASTAD to learn more about the toolkit and NASTAD newer hepatitis staff calls.
Register here for Overcoming Barriers in HIV and Viral Hepatitis Screening Care: Strategies for Rural and Underserved Settings in the Southeast US which will be held Nov. 8, 2024 at 11 a.m. CDT
Register here for Mpox Updates Amidst the Ongoing Global Public Health Emergency which will be held Nov. 13, 2024 at noon. CDT
Register here for Data Transformation for Storytelling which will be held on
Nov. 13, 2024 at 1 p.m. CDT
Check out our full training list.
Click here to view the holiday shipping calendar.
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