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Minnesota Department of Health
August 19, 2021
Good afternoon,
Here are the COVID-19 vaccine provider updates for August 13 to August 19, 2021.
Ordering in MIIC
Providers can now directly request COVID-19 vaccines in MIIC at any time. We will process orders daily. Sites can expect to receive doses within 2-3 business days after submitting their order. Please contact health.mdhvaccine@state.mn.us with questions.
Over the next several weeks, sites will notice a variety of COVID-19 vaccine products available to request in MIIC. CDC is making an effort to distribute all remaining COVID-19 products while we await the next federal contracts to renew later this fall.
Prioritize administering vaccine doses you have on hand and avoid stockpiling doses. Order only what you can use for the next couple of weeks.
Supply updates
Supply of Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines remains plentiful.
Pfizer vaccine
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The 450 packs of Pfizer will only remain on the MIIC request through today, Thursday, August 19. We apologize for the short notice. The national supply of this popular package size has run its course.
- 1170 packs of Pfizer vaccine return to MIIC this week. We anticipate 1170 packs to remain constant throughout September and October until contracts are renewed, and smaller package sizes become available later this year.
- Ancillary kits for the 1170 packaging are configured with 80% 1 inch needles that may be used for pediatric patients.
Moderna vaccine
- Moderna 14-dose vials remain available.
- Moderna 10-dose vials are back. CDC expects inventory of the 10-dose vials to phase out in the next few weeks. All 10-dose vials expire in November/December 2021. Please visit our Smartsheets tool: COVID-19 Vaccine Available for Redistributionbefore submitting requests in MIIC; currently there are over 20,000 doses of Moderna 10-dose vials ready for redistribution in the state.
Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine
- Currently not available for requesting in MIIC. CDC anticipates Janssen vaccine becoming available in early September. All upcoming supply of Janssen vaccine will have a six-month shelf life.
As a reminder to providers, there are two distinct potential uses for an additional dose:
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Additional doses after an initial primary vaccine series: administration of an additional vaccine dose when the initial immune response following a primary series is likely to be insufficient.
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Booster dose: a dose of vaccine administered when the initial sufficient immune response to a primary series is likely to have waned over time.
Find more information on recommendations for additional doses for people who are immunocompromised and updated information on booster doses in the below two articles.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted August 13, 2021, to recommend an additional dose of Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for patients that are moderately to severely immunocompromised. Currently, the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine product is not included. CDC and FDA are awaiting Janssen data regarding safety and immune response of an additional dose.
People with moderately and severely immunocompromising conditions should receive another dose of COVID-19 vaccine as part of their primary series. The patient’s clinical team is best able to assess the degree of altered immunocompetence and optimal timing of vaccination, with specific attention paid to current or planned immunosuppressive therapies.
Additional information, including more specific details about moderate and severe immunocompromising conditions and considerations for vaccination, is published in the CDC Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines: Considerations for use of an additional mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose after an initial 2-dose COVID-19 mRNA vaccine series for immunocompromised people.
Importance of continued infection prevention measures
This additional dose recommendation is intended to provide added assurance of a response to vaccination. It is likely that even with an additional dose in the series, those that are moderately to severely immunocompromised will need to continue to take measures to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Educate immunocompromised people, including those who receive an additional mRNA dose, to continue to follow prevention measures:
- Wear a mask.
- Stay 6 feet apart from others they don’t live with.
- Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces until advised otherwise by their health care provider.
Close contacts of immunocompromised people should be strongly urged to get vaccinated against COVID-19, wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission (refer to CDC COVID Data Tracker), wear a mask if they have been exposed to an infected person, and test 3-5 days after exposure to an infected person.
Public health and medical experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released information on initial plans for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses among adults on August 18, 2021. Booster doses are currently not recommended. Both FDA authorization and updated recommendations from ACIP need to occur before that happens. Read the HHS press release at Joint Statement from HHS Public Health and Medical Experts on COVID-19 Booster Shots.
Continue your current focus to get unvaccinated patients vaccinated and complete vaccination series in partially vaccinated people. This focus has the greatest impact on reducing the spread of COVID-19 and its more severe outcomes. Nearly all the cases of severe disease, hospitalization, and death continue to occur among those not yet vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the United States continue to be remarkably effective in reducing risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even against the Delta variant.
COVID-19 vaccine providers should begin making plans to provide booster/additional doses to adults in early fall. Although we continue to see stable and highly effective protection against hospitalizations and severe outcomes for people who are fully vaccinated, we are seeing a decrease in vaccine effectiveness against infection.
Childhood and adolescent immunization rates have decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit our updated web page, Pediatric Immunization Gaps Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic to view statewide data on these gaps and find information on how health care and public health partners can help in catching children up on vaccines they need.
Facilities that need to waste doses of COVID-19 vaccine may find that they have excess ancillary supplies. When this occurs, MDH would like vaccine providers to be aware that any extra needles and syringes are theirs to keep for flu vaccination or other needs.
If vaccine providers have extra CDC immunization cards, ensure they are kept in a secure location to avoid misuse. There have been reports of selling counterfeit cards online. These cards remain property of the U.S. government until provided to the vaccine recipient following vaccination.
As more schools, businesses, and venues require documentation of COVID-19 vaccination, it is important to remember that data in MIIC contain private information about people that must be treated in a manner that preserves their privacy. Organizations must complete and submit a MIIC Data Use Agreement (DUA) before being set up in MIIC, and every three years while participating, as a commitment to upholding data privacy and security. As part of the DUA, organizations agree to “access, provide and share immunization data only as allowed by the Minnesota Immunization Data Sharing Law (Minn. Stat. §144.3351).” Per state law, organizations can only view a person’s MIIC record, without their consent, if the organization provides services on behalf of that person. Discuss with your organization’s administrative and/or legal teams to determine how this law applies to your organization’s use of MIIC. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) cannot provide legal guidance. Unauthorized disclosures by private providers are governed by Minn. Stat. §144.298, which allows for “disciplinary action against a provider by the appropriate licensing board or agency.”
You must report vaccine wastage in MIIC. There are no consequences or punishment for reporting wasted vaccine. Reporting wastage is necessary to keep track of inventory and supply.
Wastage that should be reported:
- Vials that expired before you could use them. Either by the manufacturer’s expiration or beyond-use date in the fridge.
- Doses that remained in the vial and not used before the time limit.
- Fewer doses drawn up than the maximum doses per vial. For example: If you can only get 5 doses from a Pfizer vial, report one dose as wasted.
- For instructions on reporting wasted (nonviable) COVID-19 vaccine in MIIC, please review Reporting Nonviable COVID-19 Vaccine to MIIC (PDF). You are allowed to report weekly and for several sites at one time.
We encourage any sites with excess vaccine inventory to report it using our tool, Smartsheet: COVID-19 Vaccine Available for Redistribution to facilitate redistribution and help avoid vaccine waste. If you have questions, please email health.mdhvaccine@state.mn.us.
Thank to those who joined us for the webinar to discuss adolescent catch-up immunization with the MDH immunization team, Dr. Chomilo, and Dr. Singh. For those who could not join, we will be sending out information and notes from the webinar next week in this bulletin, stay tuned!
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