MnVFC Announcement

View this as a webpage

December 11, 2025

• Hepatitis B and VFC
• Vaccine shipment temperature excursions
• Vaccine shipments recalled to McKesson
• Note on delivery hours
• Immunization resources survey
• Archive of previous announcements

Hepatitis B and VFC

On Dec. 5, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to eliminate the universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for infants. Because the new recommendation is not based on scientific evidence, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is endorsing the evidence-based guidance of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) that supports the administration of a birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine for all infants. AAP’s and AAFP’s recommendations are noted on AAFP: Immunization Schedules and AAP: Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule for Ages 18 Years or Younger (PDF).

We do not expect access to the hepatitis B birth dose to be impacted by this change. ACIP changed their recommendation to shared clinical decision making, which will preserve access for hepatitis B vaccination for all eligible children through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. This also means that insurance coverage for privately insured kids will not be impacted.

There are two hepatitis B vaccines on the federal VFC contract that are approved for administration at the time of birth: Engerix-B (GSK) and Recombivax-HB (Merck). These products will remain available to order through the MnVFC program for children starting at birth; we encourage you to continue to order what you need for your patient population.

Vaccine shipment temperature excursions

If you receive a MnVFC shipment and the shipment is compromised or the temperature monitor indicates that it is out of range, you should contact the McKesson using the phone number on the shipment immediately. They will then work with MDH to gather further information from you. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and McKesson won’t replace the vaccine shipment if there is a delay in reporting shipments that are out of range.

Vaccine shipments recalled to McKesson

Occasionally, shipments will be recalled to the CDC McKesson warehouse if the delivery cannot be made by Fedex or UPS. This may be due to weather or if the delivery attempt was made outside operating hours. If that happens, McKesson will determine if the vaccine is still viable and either reship it or send a replacement order. They will communicate this information with MDH staff, and we will inform your MnVFC site contacts of the new tracking information.

Note on delivery hours

If you know your site will be closed on one of your standard delivery days, please avoid placing your order until you are able to receive the vaccine during your set delivery hours. We are not able to communicate one-off closures, and you risk having vaccines ship when you are not there to receive them. The CDC and McKesson won’t replace shipments that fail to deliver because of a closure during your standard delivery hours. If you discover that you will be closed on the expected day of delivery, email health.mnvfc@state.mn.us immediately and we will try to have the shipment recalled to the CDC McKesson warehouse. We are working to get updated delivery hours from the re-enrollment surveys into our system. If you have future changes, email the MnVFC inbox.

Immunization resources survey

We are requesting your feedback! Take a few minutes to participate in the MDH Immunization Resources Survey. We want to understand health care providers' experience and usage of MDH immunization webpages and resources. 

This survey is meant for anybody that has a connection with the immunization process. This includes staff that schedule appointments, discuss, recommend, and or administer vaccines; we would appreciate if you would forward to the relevant individuals in your organization for their participation. The survey will close on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. Reach out to the immunization team if you have any questions at health.vaccineSME@state.mn.us.

Archive of previous announcements

To download a version of this newsletter formatted for printing, go to the MnVFC Announcements site.

MnVFC Program | 651-201-5522 or 1-800-657-3970 | www.health.state.mn.us/vfc

Manage Preferences  |  Unsubscribe  |  Help  |  health.state.mn.us