DOH Offices Closed July 4

Department of Health offices will be closed on Thursday, July 4th in recognition of Independence Day. All messages will be returned as soon as possible when operations resume Friday, July 5th.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July! 

Self Nomination Open for 2024 Immunize WA Awards

The Immunize WA awards, recognizing clinics that achieve immunization coverage criteria for childhood, adolescents, and now HPV dose initiation for 9- and 10-year-olds, celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2024! 

Nominations are now open! 

Providers may self-nominate June 1 through July 15, 2024.  The 2024 award recipients will be announced on August 20, 2024, during National Immunization Awareness Month. 

To nominate your clinic for Immunize WA: 

1. Watch this short video on how to run your coverage rate report. 
2. Complete the nomination form.
3. Submit your coverage rate report to immunizewa@doh.wa.gov.
4. Please include your VFC pin in the subject line. 

Don't miss the opportunity to nominate yourself/your clinic! Nominations run through July 15, 2024. More information can be found on the Immunize WA web page. 

Vaccine Delivery Availability

Please ensure the shipping days and times that you are available to receive a shipment of vaccines is accurate on every order you submit in the IIS. This information is used to send your vaccine shipment from the distributor to your clinic. 

Clinic Moves

Is your clinic moving locations? Don't forget to let us know! Providers planning to move their clinic to a new location are required to notify the Childhood Vaccine Program at WAChildhoodVaccines@doh.wa.gov several weeks in advance so we can provide guidance to help the move go as smoothly as possible. Check out the Clinic Move Checklist for additional guidance and instructions for this process.  

Vaccine Emergency and Incident Preparation

Summer is heating up! Time to make sure your vaccines don't! It's a great time to review your facility's Vaccine Management Plan and ensure you are prepared for a power outage or storage unit failure. Remember, a transfer request does not need to completed or require pre-approval for emergency transport. 

*Qualified Container and Packout: A type of container and supplies designed for use when packing vaccines for transport. They are "qualified" through laboratory testing under controlled conditions to ensure they achieve and maintain desired temperatures for a set amount of time.

If your vaccines are exposed to out of range temperatures, follow the instructions  in the Vaccine Temperature Excursion Guide: Ensure that the temperatures are monitored, the vaccine is placed under proper storage unit temperatures as soon as possible, the vaccine is labeled "do not use", and the manufacturers are called to determine viability of the vaccine. 

ACIP Meeting Summary

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met on June 26-28 and approved the following recommendations, which have been adopted by the CDC Director. The recommendations will be published in the MMWR and CDC’s print and digital resources will be updated in the future.

RSV Vaccines – Adults

• ACIP recommends adults 75 years of age and older should receive a single dose of RSV vaccine.^a,b
• ACIP recommends adults 60–74 years of age and older who are at increased risk of severe RSV disease^c should receive a single dose of RSV vaccine.^a,b

^aRSV vaccination is recommended as a single lifetime dose only. Persons who have already received RSV vaccination are NOT recommended to receive another dose.

^bThese recommendations supplant the current recommendation that adults 60 years of age and older may receive RSV vaccination, using shared clinical decision-making. Adults 60–74 years of age who are not at increased risk of severe RSV disease are NOT recommended to receive RSV vaccination.

^CCDC will publish Clinical Considerations that describe chronic medical conditions and other risk factors for severe RSV disease. The ACIP RSV Work Group proposed the following chronic medical conditions to be considered when recommending the RSV vaccine for 60-74:

• Chronic lung disease
• Chronic cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes with end-organ damage
• Severe obesity
• Neurologic or neuromuscular conditions
• Chronic kidney disease, advanced
• Decreased immune function (ie. immunocompromising conditions)
• Liver disorders
• Frailty
• Hematologic disorders
• Residence in a nursing home or other long-term care facility
• Other chronic medical conditions that increases risk of severe disease due to respiratory infection

DTaP-IPV-Hib-HepB (Vaxelis®) Vaccine

• ACIP preferentially recommends DTaP-IPV-Hib-HepB (Vaxelis®) for American Indian and Alaska Native infants based on the Hib component.

COVID-19 Vaccines

• ACIP recommends 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines as authorized or approved by FDA in persons ≥6 months of age.
• All COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be available to ship mid-August to late-September

Influenza Vaccines

• ACIP reaffirms the recommendation for routine annual influenza vaccination of all persons aged ≥6 months who do not have contraindications.
• ACIP recommends high-dose inactivated (HD-IIV3) and adjuvanted inactivated (aIIV3) influenza vaccines as acceptable options for influenza vaccination of solid organ transplant recipients aged 18 through 64 years who are on immunosuppressive medications.

Pneumococcal Vaccines

• ACIP recommends PCV21 as an option for adults aged ≥19 years who are recommended to receive a dose of PCV.
• FDA approved the 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for adults aged 18 years or older on June 17, 2024.
• PCV21 is not replacing PCV20, it is a different vaccine with different serotypes.
• For adults who have never received PCV: PCV21 would be added as an option to the current recommendation to use either PCV20 alone or PCV15 in series with PPSV23 (if PPSV23 not given previously) for adults 65+ and for adults 19-64 with certain underlying conditions or risk factors who have not received a PCV or whose vaccination history is unknown.

CDC will be updating the pneumococcal web page and the PneumoRecs VaxAdvisor: Vaccine Provider App | CDC in the coming months. 

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.

Did you know that you can reach Childhood Vaccine Program staff by phone? You can reach us directly by calling 360.236.2VAX (2829).