Got Your Shots? News

Minnesota Department of Health sent this bulletin at 01/26/2024 03:27 PM CST
Minnesota Department of Health

Got Your Shots? News

View this as a webpage

January 26, 2024

In This Edition

Boosting HPV vaccination rates webinar

Join us for a webinar on Boosting Human Papillomavirus Virus (HPV) Vaccination Rates Feb. 6, from noon to 1 p.m. CST. Hear about NEW research and results on improving HPV vaccination presented for the first time by Robert Jacobson, an M.D. at Mayo Clinic. All clinic staff, immunizers, and immunization advocates are welcome and encouraged to join. To register for the webinar, visit Boosting HPV Vaccination Rates: MDH/ACS Quality Improvement Project.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and American Cancer Society will share strategies for increasing HPV vaccination rates, resources, and tools that can be personalized and implemented in your clinic. Join the webinar to learn more about the Immunization Quality Improvement for Providers (IQIP) HPV vaccination improvement project. For additional information about this project, email health.IQIP.mailbox@state.mn.us or visit IQIP HPV Vaccination Improvement Project.  

2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine expiring soon

Check expiration dates on any 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine that you currently have in stock. Much of this vaccine will expire in March and April. This includes vaccine that has been in the fridge and freezer. Any expired MnVFC or UUAV vaccine should be reported as non-viable and returned. Check with your vaccine distributors about returning private vaccine.

Influenza vaccine prebook for the 2024-25 season

Influenza vaccine prebook for the 2024-25 season opened on Jan. 16. Prebook requests are due Jan. 31. Requests submitted after Jan. 31 will be considered late and will be prioritized accordingly. MnVFC-enrolled providers will use the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection (MIIC) to prebook. If you have not yet submitted your flu prebook request, follow the instructions below on how to prebook influenza vaccine.

  • Login to MIIC.
  • Go to the Vaccine Management header on the left-hand side.
  • Select request special event vaccine.
  • From the Event dropdown, select 2024-25 MnVFC pediatric influenza vaccine prebook.

"Yes! Get Your COVID-19 and Flu Vaccines" campaign

Have you seen it? We hope the answer is Yes! MDH has been encouraging Minnesotans to get their COVID-19 and flu vaccinations through digital and social media, radio, and TV ads. The YES media campaign began in Dec. 2023 and will run through February. We encourage you to watch for the ads and share posts from MDH’s social media channels: Yes! COVID-19 and Flu Shots - The Basics (15 sec), YES! COVID-19 and Flu Shots - Questions. The campaign tells people to talk to their provider and directs them to Yes! Get Your COVID-19 and Flu Vaccines for resources and information on where and why to get vaccinated.

Nirsevimab supply and recommendations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance on nirsevimab, an RSV monoclonal antibody immunization. The updated guidance is available at Updated Guidance for Healthcare Providers on Increasing Supply of Nirsevimab to Protect Young Children from Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) during the 2023-2024 Respiratory Virus Season. This guidance removes prioritization considerations and advises the return to recommendations for infants and young children that were initially put forward in Aug. 2023 by the CDC and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The goal of this change is to encourage providers to use their existing supply to vaccinate infants and children recommended to receive nirsevimab because the 2023-24 RSV immunization season ends on March 31.

MnVFC supply in Minnesota is still limited and some sites may still be facing higher demand than they are able to accommodate. If your site has enough supply, follow the expanded recommendations outlined above. If your supply remains limited, continue with the previous guidelines outlined in the CDC: Health Alert Network (HAN): Limited Availability of Nirsevimab in the United States—Interim CDC Recommendations to Protect Infants from Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) during the 2023–2024 Respiratory Virus Season. We will continue allocating doses to sites as we are able.

As the season ends, remember that, unlike flu vaccine, nirsevimab doses do NOT expire in June. Most current doses will still be able to be used in the fall, so please check expiration dates, and safely store any unused doses for next season.

Vaccination season for Abrysvo for pregnant people ends on Jan. 31

ACIP recommends administering Abrysvo, an RSV vaccine, to pregnant people at 32-36 weeks gestation from September through January. This strategy provides maternal antibodies to infants who are born when RSV activity is high.  

CDC provides key points for ending maternal RSV vaccination after Jan. 31: 

  • Administering maternal RSV vaccine starting in September (at least 1 month before the start of the RSV season) and continuing through January (at least 2 months before the end of the season) maximizes the cost-effectiveness and benefits of the vaccine.
  • It is not feasible to adjust the timing based on yearly variations in RSV circulation. For most of the continental United States, clinicians should administer maternal RSV vaccination from September to January, regardless of yearly RSV circulation changes.
  • Administering vaccine after January may not be covered by the pregnant person’s insurance.
  • Infants born before April 1 to unvaccinated pregnant persons should be offered nirsevimab, the RSV monoclonal antibody.

For additional detail, refer to the CDC: MMWR: Use of the Pfizer Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine During Pregnancy for the Prevention of Respiratory Syncytial Virus–Associated Lower Respiratory Tract Disease in Infants: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2023. 

Download version for print

Find previous newsletters at Got Your Shots? News.