Annual Agreement Renewals are Underway

Submit Your Provider Agreement Today!

Remember to ensure these items are all updated in your 2021 Provider Agreement:

1.  Primary and Backup Vaccine Coordinators should complete the 2021 annual You Call the Shots Training Modules:

• Vaccine For Children(VFC)
• Vaccine Storage and Handling

2.  Update your clinic's practice profile data to reflect all children served by eligibility status in the previous calendar year.

3.  Ensure your thermometers have current certificates of calibration.

4.  Update your clinic's Vaccine Management Plan.

Use these resources to assist you with completing your annual renewal in the IIS:

• Renewal Guide
• Renewal FAQ
• Renewal Schedule

Vax to School Campaign

Vaccination rates for children, especially pre-teens and teens, have plummeted since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vax to School is a promotional campaign to get students caught up on their immunizations before returning to in-person learning. It was created in partnership with Washington Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, WithinReach, Public Health Seattle King County, Snohomish Health District and Washington State Department of Health.

This toolkit includes sample social media messages that you can share with your networks to promote the importance of vaccinating school-age kids and adolescents during COVID-19.

Thank you for keeping our communities safe, healthy and vaccinated as schools start to reopen!

Always Report Temperature Excursions to DOH

Please report all temperature excursions you experience to the Childhood Vaccine Program by emailing WAChildhoodVaccines@doh.wa.gov or calling 360.236.2VAX. There are very important steps to complete once a temperature excursion is identified in your storage units including bagging the exposed vaccine, labeling it "do not use", and contacting the manufacturers to determine viability of the exposed vaccines. Please use the Temperature Excursion Guide to assist you in navigating any excursions you may experience.

COVID-19 Vaccine Updates Webinar

The Washington Department of Health is pleased to host the COVID-19 Vaccine Updates – March webinar on March 31, 2021. Please REGISTER for this webinar. The webinar is designed for healthcare practitioners, local health jurisdictions, and school and child care nurses. Continuing education credits are available for nurses, medical assistants, and pharmacists, and will be recorded in case you miss the live event. The webinar will cover the following topics:

• 5 COVID-19 vaccines: platforms, clinical trials
• Safety data on vaccines administered
• Vaccine recommendation updates
• Addressing COVID vaccine hesitant individuals
• COVID-19 vaccine resources

Upcoming Webinar: Addressing Patient Concerns About COVID-19 Vaccines

Learn how our state’s experts are addressing vaccine hesitancy with patients at our free webinar, “Addressing Patient Concerns About COVID-19 Vaccines” on Thursday, March 25 at 12 p.m. This webinar is for all healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, naturopaths, chiropractors, dentists, etc.). 

 Topics include:

• Most effective ways to address patient concerns
• Addressing vaccine hesitancy in communities with significant health disparities
• Reviewing new toolkits specific to each vaccine

Panelists include:

• Bob Lutz, MD (WA DOH, COVID-19 Response Team)
• Douglas Opel, MD, MPH (Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine)
• John H Vassall MD, FACP (Physician Executive for Quality, Safety & Equity, Comagine Health)
• Jenny Arnold, Pharm.D., BCPS (CEO, Washington State Pharmacy Association) will moderate

Live ASL and Spanish interpretation will be provided. Register and submit your questions here.

For questions about the immunization schedule, the Immunization Information System forecast, or any other immunization clinical questions, please send an email to ImmuneNurses@doh.wa.gov. Check out the Immunization Training web page for more resources and training opportunities.

Action Needed: Are the Right People Receiving the Blurbs in Your Clinic?

This is a friendly reminder for all clinics enrolled in the Childhood Vaccine Program. Please ensure that you let us know if you have new staff that should be receiving this newsletter. We update our contacts after our provider agreement renewal period when clinic's have shared their annual updates, however, we know staff can change anytime in the year. Please make sure to let us know by emailing the new contacts to WAChildhoodVaccines@doh.wa.gov or calling 360.236.2VAX so that we can update our Blurbs distribution list.