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Are Your Data Loggers Calibrated? We realize how busy and fast paced your practice can be and how easy it may be to lose sight of important dates! This is a friendly reminder to check your LogTag data loggers to ensure that it has a current calibration date. Calibration and maintenance of your data loggers is a requirement while participating in the Vaccines for Children Program and the responsibility of the provider. Be sure to replace batteries when needed, routinely download temperatures from devices that are in use at least once a month, and send your device out for re-calibration once every year for TMDE customers and once every two years for Control Solutions customers. Click here for re-calibration facilities' contact information. If you have questions on how to operate your LogTag data logger, we have a PowerPoint Presentation available on our website for your convenience here. There are also several data logger video help guides on the Control Solutions website here. If you have additional questions regarding your LogTag data loggers, please call us at 207-287-9972 for assistance.

Resources to Help Immunization Providers PREVENT Vaccination Errors 

The Immunization Action Coalition has published its newest PowerPoint slide set, “Resources to Help Immunization Providers PREVENT Vaccination Errors”; available for you to use “as is” or to modify to fit your needs. Click here to view it. 

These 43 slides include many links to online resources to help immunization providers prevent vaccination errors related to storage and handling, administration, scheduling, and documentation. These materials were gathered from CDC, IAC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and several state health departments, and include books, toolkits, web pages, videos, online courses, vaccine labels, print pieces, posters, slide sets, and more.

Minimum & Maximum Temperature Readings

If your minimum & maximum reading is out of range (below 36°F or above 46°F for the refrigerator, and below -58°F or above 5°F for the freezer), that is considered a temperature excursion. You are responsible for docking your data logger to determine how long the excursion lasted and calling the vaccine manufacturer(s) to determine if your vaccine is viable. Until you can confirm that your vaccine is viable with manufacturer documentation, you should not use the vaccine in the affected unit(s). You are responsible for contacting the manufacturer(s) for viability information regardless of how long the excursion lasted. If the manufacturer deems the vaccine to be non-viable, you must contact the Maine Immunization Program's Support/Education line at 207-287-9972.

Click here for contact information to selected manufacturers.

Please see the following links for best practices on temperature monitoring:

Temperature Monitoring Best Practices for Refrigerated Vaccines - Fahrenheit

Temperature Monitoring Best Practices for Frozen Vaccines - Fahrenheit

Quadracel vaccine is available through our program for routine ordering. See below for more information on the specifics of the vaccine. 

Vaccine Schedule

Quadracel® (DTaP-IPV) vaccine is a combination vaccine approved for the 5th dose of DTaP and the 4th or 5th dose of IPV vaccines in children 4 through 6 years whose previous DTaP doses have been with Sanofi Pasteur’s Pentacel® (DTaP-Hib-IPV) and/or Sanofi’s Daptacel® (DTaP). 

Use of Same Manufacturer Recommended When Feasible

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that, whenever feasible, the same manufacturer’s DTaP vaccines should be used for each dose in the series. However, to avoid missed opportunities, they recommend vaccination should be considered valid and not be deferred when the type of DTaP vaccine previously administered is not available or is not known. Providers wishing to decrease the number of injections may choose to use Quadracel® or Kinrix® in children who received other vaccines for their earlier doses in the series.  

Additional Guidance 

• The recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) about Quadracel® (MMWR 2015;64, No34:948.) can be found here.
• The 2017 Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule (see footnotes 6 and 12) can be found here.
• The package insert can be found here.