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To our esteemed health professionals and partners,
We have great news to share!
The Washington Vaccine Association has agreed to fund nirsevimab as part of the Childhood Vaccine Program (CVP). Nirsevimab is a monoclonal antibody product used to prevent serious respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) illness in babies. This means participating health care providers will be able to order and administer nirsevimab at no cost to all babies who are at risk for severe RSV illness.
We have deep gratitude for the Washington Vaccine Association in providing upfront funding for this season to make nirsevimab available through our universal system. As many of you may know, there is a technical barrier in the current state law that supports our universal system. The definition of vaccine in the statute is narrow. The Department of Health has submitted a request for legislative change to the Governor’s office for the next legislative session that would broaden the definition to make it more inclusive of current and future immunization products.
We know that many providers are anxious to receive nirsevimab in their office and we want you to be aware of some timelines.
- Health care providers participating in the vaccine program should be able to order nirsevimab within two to three weeks.
- Ordering will be completed in the Immunization Information System (IIS) in the same manner as childhood vaccines.
- Product should arrive in provider offices one to two weeks after placing an order. If you are not part of the vaccine program, you can enroll by visiting our CVP webpage.
We will need providers’ help with nirsevimab billing. Commercial carriers and third-party administrators should not be billed a dosage-based assessment for nirsevimab until July 1, 2024. Only administration fees should be billed.
We want to thank you for your patience as we worked through financing options to make this new lifesaving product available through our universal system. We will continue to provide updates around RSV product implementation as we finalize details.
As a reminder, DOH has a RSV webpage which goes over RSV disease and products. The CDC also has a variety of helpful resources around RSV. Visit the CDC’s RSV landing page here.
Thank you,
Jamilia Sherls-Jones
Director, Office of Immunization
Washington State Department of Health
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