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This weekly newsletter provides summarized content on COVID-19 vaccine related topics. This broad level of information is tailored towards health care professionals, partners, and the general public.
WASHINGTON COVID-19 VACCINATION STATUS: ALL AGES 5 AND UP
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 MODERNA VACCINE RECEIVES FULL FDA APPROVAL, BRANDED SPIKEVAX
January 31, 2022
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine has received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in individuals 18 years of age and older. Prior to this, the Moderna vaccine had been authorized for emergency use in the United States since December 18, 2020. The vaccine formulation has not changed, only the name.
With this approval, Moderna has announced the vaccine will be marketed in the U.S. under the name Spikevax. This is the second COVID-19 vaccine to receive full FDA approval, following the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine in April 2021.
Spikevax is available for individuals over the age of 18 as a two-dose series, as a third additional dose for some immunocompromised people, and as a booster five months after completion of the primary series.
Read the FDA’s press release.
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SOME IMMUNOCOMPROMISED INDIVIDUALS SHOULD RECEIVE FOUR DOSES OF COVID-19 VACCINE
February 3, 2022
OLYMPIA – A fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine can help some people with weakened immune systems be less likely to catch COVID-19 and get severely ill. Certain individuals who are immunocompromised may receive up to four doses of COVID-19 vaccine, which includes two primary doses of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), an additional primary dose, and a booster dose.
“COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, but some immunocompromised individuals don’t get strong enough immunity following their initial two-dose series,” said Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, MD, MPH, Chief Science Officer. “Receiving an additional primary dose and a booster dose will help protect those who are more susceptible to the disease. Getting everyone up to date on all vaccine doses they are eligible to receive can also help protect the most vulnerable in our communities.
For more information, visit the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Washington State Department of Health’s website.
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NEW DATA ADDED TO DOH'S DASHBOARD
Pediatric vaccinations, additional doses add clearer picture of vaccine distribution across Washington
January 31, 2022
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has added additional vaccination data to the state’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard to include vaccination rates for children ages 5 through 11 and people who received additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Pediatric Vaccines
The data dashboard now displays the number of people ages 5 through 11 who have been vaccinated across the state and in each county. This data is located under the “Who is getting vaccinated?” tab.
Additional Doses
Aggregate counts of the number of people who received an additional dose are also now included in the “How many people are getting vaccinated?” section of the data dashboard. An additional dose is either a booster dose or a third dose that someone who is fully vaccinated receives after their primary vaccination series.
“Adding pediatric vaccinations and additional doses to the data dashboard gives the public a better understanding of how many people are getting vaccinated across our state,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Michele Roberts. “Vaccines are safe, effective, and can help prevent serious illness and death from COVID-19. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as they are eligible.”
To read the full press release, please visit the DOH newsroom.
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STATE RE-OPENS COVID-19 TEST PORTAL
Rapid antigen tests can be ordered and shipped directly to Washington households at no-cost
January 31, 2022
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has re-opened a statewide portal that allows people to order COVID-19 rapid tests online, then have them shipped to their doorsteps.
For the second time in less than two weeks, Washington state residents can go to www.sayyescovidhometest.org to order up to 5 free tests. Recipients will get those tests delivered at no cost, but only while supplies last. When more supplies become available, the state will open the portal again.
“Increasing access to rapid tests is an important part of slowing the spread of COVID-19, because when more people use home tests, they’re able to limit their contact with others when they test positive,” said Deputy Secretary Lacy Fehrenbach. “Knowing your status is key – if you test positive, you should stay home from school or work.”
Order your test online in English.
Solicita en Español tu prueba en línea.
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DELAYS IN VACCINE DELIVERY
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has announced that there has been a delay in the delivery of the COVID-19 Vaccine due to inclement weather. Vaccine was not shipped on 2/2/2022 or 2/3/2022. Vaccine will not be shipped until inclement weather resides. The Washington State Department of Health will continue to provide updates as they are received.
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 POP INITIATIVE FEATURED BY THE CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently featured the Washington State Department of Health's Power of Providers (POP) Initiative on their website.
The POP Initiative encourages health care providers to educate their patients about COVID-19 and recommend they get vaccinated. The initiative focuses on mobilizing health care providers as the most trusted source of health information for patients.
POP has received recognition from the CDC because of its innovative ideas and success in supporting the state's high COVID-19 vaccination rates.
To find out more and join thousands of others in this important program,visit the POP Initiative page. Share the POP Initiative Recruitment Toolkit, disseminate information about POP through your channels, and ask providers in your jurisdiction to make their POP commitment and enroll today.
Thank you for your help in protecting our communities!
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INCLEMENT WEATHER AND RESOURCES FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
With continued inclement weather expected in the state of Washington, power outages and vaccine shipping delays are possible.
Ways to prepare for inclement weather:
- Ensure your vaccine management plan is up to date.
- Ensure vaccines maintain stable temperatures. If you experience a power outage, please refer to the COVID-19 Temperature Excursion Guide.
- If vaccine must be moved due to an emergency, emergency transport does not require prior approval. If vaccines are transported, ensure that a digital data logger is used to record vaccine temperatures while in transit.
- Report all temperature excursions to 360-236-4223 or COVID.vaccine@doh.wa.gov, and call the manufacturers of each vaccine involved in the excursion to verify vaccine viability.
When conducting vaccination clinics prepare for a power outage by bringing paper copies of:
- Temperature logs
- Hard copy of PrepMod registration
- Paper to record vaccinations for data entry when system cannot be accessed
- Vaccine Management Plan to identify if vaccines will need to be transferred to an alternate location if the facility storing the doses does not have power that will return before temperatures go out of range
Also consider having the following items on hand incase of a power outage onsite at a clinic:
- Spare batteries
- Flashlights
Other Resources:
DOH Storage and Handling Webpage
CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Quick Reference Guide for Healthcare Professionals
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 COVID-19 VACCINE WASTE INSTRUCTIONS
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) continues to encourage providers to take every opportunity to vaccinate. We encourage you to open a vial to administer doses even if the entire vial cannot be utilized and results in waste.
Identifying Waste
When possible, you should make every effort to reduce wastage in your vaccine program. However, it is important to identify doses as waste in order to make sure the vaccines you administer to patients are safe and effective. Vaccine may be identified as waste if:
- There is a temperature excursion. You must monitor COVID-19 vaccine temperatures with a digital data logger (DDL) during storage and transport. If the DDL shows the vaccines were out of temperature range, you may need to declare them as waste. Contact the vaccine manufacturer to see if you can still use the vaccine.
- You don’t use a punctured vial in time. After you puncture a COVID-19 vaccine vial, you must use all doses in the vial within a certain timeframe (the exact time depends on the vaccine product and temperature).
- Your syringes can’t get the last dose in the vial. Pfizer vaccine vials contain six doses, but you need a low dead-volume syringe to access the sixth dose. You cannot combine vaccine from multiple vials to make a dose.
- The vaccine is expired. You should always check the vaccine expiration date before preparing or administering vaccine.
- The vaccine shipment arrived damaged. You should check the vaccine shipments as soon as they arrive. If the temperature went out of range or the DDL wasn’t activated, you should store the vaccine, mark it as “do not use,” and contact the manufacturer for guidance.
Disposing of Waste
You should dispose of COVID-19 vaccine waste in accordance with local regulations and processes for disposal of regulated medical waste.
Reporting Waste
You should report any vaccine wastage to the Washington State Immunization Information System (WAIIS) by following the How to Report COVID-19 Vaccine Wastage guide (PDF).
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HOW TO REPORT DUPLICATE PATIENTS IN THE IIS
Reporting duplicate patients found in the Washington State Immunization Information System (IIS) helps to improve the accuracy and completeness of patient vaccination records. When you search for patients in the IIS, you may see patients with similar names and birth dates. If you believe they are the same patient, you can report the possible duplicates in the IIS for DOH review by following the How to Report Duplicate Patients guide (PDF).
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 HOW TO REPORT A RECORD YOU SUSPECT HAS BEEN MERGED IN ERROR
A suspected bad merge often has multiple invalid doses or duplicate vaccination information. If you suspect a patient record has been incorrectly merged with another record in error, please contact the Help Desk at waiishelpdesk@doh.wa.gov or 1-800-325-5599 for assistance. You will need to provide the SIIS Patient ID which can be found on the Patient Search screen.
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 Q: My patient/client is moderately or severely immunocompromised. What is the COVID-19 vaccination recommendation for them?
A: Because immunocompromised people have a weakened immune system, they are more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 and developing severe illness from it. COVID-19 vaccination is recommended, and in many cases, moderately to severely immunocompromised people should receive a total of four doses.
Your patient qualifies for four total doses of COVID-19 vaccine if:
Children ages 5-11 who are immune compromised should get an additional (third) primary dose of Pfizer vaccine, but do not qualify for a booster at this time. Children in this age range may not receive any vaccine other than Pfizer. Read more about pediatric vaccination on our Vaccinating Youth webpage.
Immune compromised people who received Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine as their primary series should not receive an additional primary dose. They should follow the standard recommendation and receive a booster dose 2 months after their primary dose of Johnson & Johnson.
As medical providers it is imperative to understand the vaccine recommendation for this high-risk population. Please encourage your immunocompromised patients or clients to get vaccinated and ensure they complete the entire series plus booster.
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NEW RECORDING AVAILABLE! STORAGE & HANDLING WEBINAR
On January 27 Office of Immunization at The WA Department of Health hosted a COVID-19 vaccine webinar which covered vaccine storage, handling and administration practices. If you were unable to attend, you can now watch a recording of the webinar and download the presentation and transcript.
If you attended and are awaiting your continuing education credits, we will be sending them out soon and thank you for your participation.
1/27/2022 COVID-19 Vaccine Storage, Handling and Administration Webinar
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FOR SCHOOLS AND CHILD CARES
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Higher Education Recommendations 2021-2022
- This guidance reflects the CDC isolation and quarantine guidelines, including information on staying up to date with vaccinations against COVID-19.
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Symptom Decision Tree and Contact Tracing Checklist for K-12 Schools (PDF) and Contact Tracing Guide and FAQ for K-12 Schools (PDF)
- These documents align with the current versions of K-12 School Requirements on isolation, quarantine, and the expanded Test to Stay program.
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K-12 Schools 2021-2022 Requirements (PDF). DOH policy supports in-person learning while maximizing constrained COVID-19 testing supplies. Schools/districts are required to:
- Test high contact sport athletes the day of competition only and exclude those who test positive.
- Ensure universal masking of all athletes during all practices/training for these high-risk sports.
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COVID-19 Vaccines: Pediatric Vaccine Toolkit for Schools (PowerPoint) This toolkit provides a variety of resources for schools, including parent handouts, backpack stuffers, and sample communication.
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Contact Tracing Guide and FAQ for K-12 Schools This guide includes quarantine recommendations and contact tracing priority settings.
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K-12 Schools 2021-2022 Supplemental Considerations to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission. Information includes classroom and school closure criteria, contact tracing in high priority settings, timelines for close contact testing, and technical clarifications on antigen testing for Test to Stay programs and performing arts/sporting activities screening testing.
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Secretary of Health’s Mask Order FAQ, to align with the secretary’s order related to athletes and coaches at large outdoor gatherings.
School and child care guidance can be found on the Department of Health web page here.
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FOR LONG TERM CARE FACILITIES
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RESOURCES ON THE PFIZER COVID-19 VACCINE 12-15 AGE EXPANSION
In response to the authorized of Pfizer COVID-19 to children ages 12-15, the CDC has developed several useful tools for parents and clinicians to utilize.
Information for healthcare and vaccine providers provides basic information regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, consent and tools for communication to the community:
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SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER
If you aren't already signed up for the COVID-19 Vaccine Partner Newsletter, please visit the Department of Health's email subscribers page here. Once you enter your email, on the next page expand the Immunization topic, select the COVID-19 Vaccine Partner Newsletter, and hit submit.
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This newsletter summarizes content from the week of January 30, 2022 and was sent out on February 4, 2022. |
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