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The U.S. CDC has expanded COVID-19 vaccine recommendations to nearly 28 million children in the United States in this age group.
Providers can begin vaccinating their 5-11-year- old patients as soon as possible.
Below is a list of upcoming activities related to the recommendation, as well as resource webpages that are in the process of being revised and will be available in the days ahead:
The Maine Department of Education issued a new school immunization requirement for varicella (chickenpox) on September 25, 2021. State law now requires that students in grades kindergarten through 12 have two doses of the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine for school entry.
Per Maine CDC recommendations, children who do not have both doses of the varicella vaccine and do not have a medical exemption, IEP, or are within the 90-day grace period and have already received one dose, with a plan to receive the second dose, will be excluded from school/activities when there are three or more varicella cases within the school. They may return to school as soon as they have received the second dose.
As always, students with varicella need to be excluded from any social, academic and employment activities until rash has crusted, or in immunized people without crusts, until no new lesions appear for 24 hours.
More information can be found here.
As opportunities for in-person activities continue to grow, it is important to continue encouraging parents to make sure children are up to date on routinely recommended vaccines. Well-child visits and check-ups are essential for routine vaccination, even during the pandemic.
Visit the CDC Partner Resource Center to find the latest materials for parents, including a “Let’s Play Catch-Up” website feature (available in Spanish) and sample social media content, such as animated GIFs and images to share. |
This shipping calendar is for VFC/317 & Flu vaccines only. It does not apply to COVID-19 vaccine shipments.
VaccineFinder
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have relaunched the flu VaccineFinder tool. You can now go to www.Vaccines.gov to find COVID-19 and flu vaccines near you. The tool is also available in Spanish at www.Vacunas.gov. Pfizer Vaccines U.S. Medical Affairs will be hosting Immunization Site Training Sessions for All Providers on the Storage, Handling, & Administration for Current & Potential New Formulations of the COVID-19 vaccine (with their partner BioNTech).
These sessions will be updated to reflect new information and changes that evolve. Such updates will be identified at the start of each session and further explained during each presentation.
Please click on the links below to join the sessions at the designated times.
Attendee link - November 4 - 12 PM ET Passcode: Y4ZkXdh2bz7
Attendee link - November 5 - 12 PM ET Passcode: rJSpNPts332
New Standing Orders have been posted for Moderna, Janssen, and Pfizer to include language about all booster doses.
An updated Quick Reference Guide is also available.
Most Moderna and Janssen vaccine preparation, administration, storage and handling materials have been updated and will be posted as they become available. All documents should be completed and posted by the end of this week.
All materials for the three COVID-19 vaccinations are located here.
An updated Clinical Considerations Summary will also be available here
The refrigerator and freezer temperature logs have been updated and can be located on our website here and here. On the freezer temperature log we have included an important reminder to providers that when storing the Pfizer vaccine in the freezer, the temperature should be between -13F and +5F. If temperatures have gone below -13F or above +5F, this is considered a temperature excursion. As with any temperature excursion, the Maine Immunization Program requires that providers contact the vaccine manufacturer to determine if the vaccine is viable. In addition, please also contact the Maine Immunization Program. |
