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Minnesota Department of Health
Nov. 10, 2021
Good afternoon,
Here are the COVID-19 vaccine provider updates for Nov. 5 to Nov. 10, 2021.
MDH’s provider guide and appendices, all COVID-19 vaccine protocols, and the screening and agreement template have been updated for COVID-19 vaccine for children 5- to 11- year-olds at COVID-19 Vaccine Providers.
CDC has developed several new clinical tools for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11 years (orange cap). Find the most recent information listed at the top of the webpage: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. These materials will assist with tracking expiration and beyond-use dates.
A new patient handout and descriptive video have been developed in partnership with Homeland Health Specialists. These materials will assist providers and parents to safely hold and comfort their children during COVID-19 vaccination. Find them at Preparing to Vaccinate Young Children: COVID-19 under “Vaccine administration in children.”
Ancillary kits may contain 5 mL syringes for reconstituting Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 years of age (orange cap). These syringes are marked with 0.2 mL intervals and make it challenging to accurately draw up the 1.3 mL of diluent needed for the 5- to 11-year-old vaccine. If it is not possible to use a properly marked syringe, draw up the diluent halfway between the 1.2- and 1.4-mL intervals when using the 5 mL syringes.
Ordering events
The next ordering event for COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11 years (orange cap) will open on Friday, November 12, and will close at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, November 15. We will work with CDC to get those requests to sites prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. Minimum order sizes will be 100 doses. This will be the regular cadence for the immediate future until we know we can ensure all provider requests can be filled each week from our available supply. You must be enrolled in the COVID-19 vaccine program to order COVID-19 vaccine. Pharmacies enrolled in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program (FRPP) should request doses via their CDC FRPP contacts.
Report doses administered to MIIC
Sites must report doses administered to MIIC within 24 hours. We monitor inventory levels before approving COVID-19 requests. This will be especially important for the 5- to 11-year-old vaccine going forward. Over-ordering increases risk of product expiring. Order what you need and use what you order. Further, CDC is using our doses administered data to calculate a statewide on-hand inventory level for the 5-to 11-year-old vaccine product, This helps them determine future allocations for Minnesota. Having timely reporting of doses administered data in MIIC helps ensure we will continue to be able to order all the doses we need.
Shipping update
Shipping of vaccine is on hold for all COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday through Friday of Thanksgiving week (November 24-26). Plan to order any 5- to 11-year (orange cap) vaccine this Friday through Monday (November 12-15) that you will need the week of Thanksgiving and early the week after, including any second dose needs for that timeframe. MDH will not automatically ship second doses. Sites are responsible for anticipating their second dose inventory needs.
Current demand for vaccine for children 5 to 11 years is high. The Minnesota Department of Health is working to ensure that parents have as many options as possible to get their kids vaccinated. COVID-19 vaccine providers are a big part of making that happen! To help parents get their child vaccinated, we are urging all providers who are administering vaccine to ages 5 to 11 to add and/or update your site information on the public Find My Vaccine website and map. You can do so by completing this intake form: State of Minnesota COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Sites as soon as possible. Please make sure to check the age 5-11 age group option at the bottom of the form.
When filling out the form to update your sites for 5-11 vaccination, we also encourage you to make any other updates to your vaccination sites at the same time. For detailed instructions on using the intake form, refer to Find My Vaccine – Instructions to Providers (PDF).
Please contact Julie Viken at julie.viken@state.mn.us or Chris Brueske at chris.brueske@state.mn.us if you have any questions or if you need assistance with the form or any part of the process.
We want to reiterate this message now that COVID-19 vaccines are approved for 5- to 11-year-olds. Don’t miss opportunities to vaccinate for COVID-19 and other diseases! COVID-19 vaccines may be administered without regard to timing of other vaccines. CDC’s Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines supports administering COVID-19 vaccine with other vaccines, including flu, on the same day. When deciding whether to administer other vaccine(s) with COVID-19 vaccine, vaccination providers should consider whether the patient is behind, or at risk of becoming behind, on recommended vaccines; their risk of the vaccine-preventable disease; and the reactogenicity profile of the vaccines.
Administer COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines that may be more likely to cause a local reaction in different limbs, if possible. For more information, please review best practices for administering multiple injections at CDC Administer the Vaccine(s).
The U.S. Surgeon General has released a Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation (PDF). The toolkit is meant to help people, health professionals, community leaders, faith leaders, business owners, etc. identify and address COVID-19 misinformation spreading across many different communities.
The document is action-oriented and includes group activities, conversation starters for community members/friends/families, ways to identify misinformation tactics, and sharable graphics. It also made in a way that’s easy to print so sections of it can be physically distributed or posted on bulletin boards, etc. Additionally, it will be translated into multiple languages.
Read more at HHS: As Vaccinations are Approved for Children Across the Country, U.S. Surgeon General Releases New Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation.
Pfizer U.S. Medical Affairs is hosting “Medical Updates” for its COVID-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds. Topics include FDA indication & authorization, CDC/ACIP recommendations, packaging/presentation, storage and handling, and a Q&A session.
Each session will be unique and will reflect any new information or changes that emerge. Click on the link below to join the session at the designated time.
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