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Wisconsin has administered more than 4.6 million doses statewide, with:
- 44.1% of Wisconsinites having received at least one dose.
- 36.4% of Wisconsinites having completed the vaccine series.
While more vaccination work remains, it is important to acknowledge all that has been accomplished since vaccination efforts began in December 2020. Wisconsin remains one of the top performing states in terms of the total doses administered per 100,000 population. Keep up the great work vaccinators!
In recent weeks, there has been a softening of demand. Last week, for the first time, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) was able to fill 100% of the vaccine requests for the upcoming week. Vaccinators can expect to receive another allocation email on Monday, May 10, asking for vaccine requests for the week of May 17. DHS anticipates being able to fill all requests for the week of May 17.
Even if your organization is not requesting vaccine, vaccinators should still read the allocation email. DHS provides important updates and often times requests additional information apart from the allocation survey.
It is DHS’ goal to transition to an on-demand model in the very near future for all allocation requests. While this process is being formalized, DHS will plan to continue sending weekly allocation surveys.
The WIR production region is scheduled for maintenance and will be unavailable Sunday, May 9, 2021, from 2:00 AM until 9:00 AM. See the full announcement here.
Since mid-April, there has been a decreasing trend in the 7-day average of doses administered in Wisconsin. To bolster vaccination rates, increased and creative efforts are needed to:
- Shift the strategy from large clinics to smaller, targeted clinics in trusted, community-based settings.
- Reach those who want to get vaccinated but have insufficient resources to do so (e.g., transportation, time off from work).
- Reach those who want to get vaccinated but have not yet made it a priority to go out of their way to make an appointment.
- Reach those who have resources but are hesitant (e.g., due to misinformation, disinformation, other concerns).
Employer and Community-Based Clinics
Access to vaccination within employer-based settings and trusted community-based organizations are critical strategies in reaching individuals who might otherwise be hard to reach. DHS encourages all vaccinators to support both employer and community-based organizations who wish to provide vaccination for their members, clients, or community.
DHS is now working to match employers and community-based organizations who want to hold an on-site clinic (i.e., at the site of the employer or the community-based organization) with interested and willing vaccinator partners.
Fill out this survey if you want to be listed as a vaccinator that employers and community-based organizations can contact to hold an on-site clinic. If you have already completed this survey, you do not need to do so again.
Community Walk-In Vaccination Clinic Guidance for Providers
Community walk-in clinics can help advance equity among communities and populations who face significant barriers to accessing vaccination. A walk-in vaccination clinic does not require appointments or pre-registration, but rather allows individuals to walk-in at any time during the clinic hours.
DHS encourages vaccinators to leverage this tactic when planning or operating a vaccination clinic. DHS has published a guidance document about walk-in clinics. This document and other useful resources are available on DHS’ COVID-19: Vaccine Partner Resources webpage.
Guidance to Reach Individuals Who Are Homebound or Have Mobility Concerns
DHS recognizes that access to COVID-19 vaccinations may be a challenge to some people, especially for those who are homebound. This document provides resources to aid vaccinators in partnering with local and state organizations to identify and vaccinate individuals who are homebound. Transportation resources are also listed for individuals who can travel but require additional assistance. While every community is different, these resources offer information each community can adapt to their specific needs.
Some members of the public are vaccine hesitant due to factors such as confusion about how vaccines work, vaccine benefits, and vaccine safety. State and national resources are available to address vaccine hesitancy.
DHS Resources
CDC Resources
DHS’ COVID-19: Program Information for Vaccinators webpage has been redesigned. The same content has been split onto multiple pages to make it easier to navigate. Vaccinators can now more effectively search the pages by pressing the ctrl key and the F key.
Vaccinators are encouraged to send feedback about the website to DHS by filling out this quick survey. The link to share site feedback is also in the footer of every DHS webpage.
Reminder that FDA has amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to reflect a maximum of 15 doses per vial. This is an increase from the current maximum of 11 doses per vial. Moderna began shipping the increased-dose vials under a new National Drug Code (NDC) on May 3.
Likewise, McKesson has begun shipping expanded ancillary kits to support the administration of 140 doses of vaccine. These ancillary kits are optimized to extract 14 doses per vial. Please note that an unextracted 15th dose from the larger volume Moderna vial does not result in reportable waste.
Throughout May, the Moderna vaccine will be available in two different vials (i.e., the maximum 11-dose vial and the new maximum 15-dose vial). Moderna is planning to transition all manufacturing to the new 15-dose vial during the month of May.
These two different options will have the same size vial. However, the new NDC vial reads “Maximum 15 doses of 0.5mL” and has a distinct blue shading. See picture below.
The US Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is announcing a new program covering costs of administering COVID-19 vaccines to patients enrolled in health plans that either do not cover vaccination fees or cover them with patient cost sharing. Since providers cannot bill patients for COVID-19 vaccination fees, this new program, the COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund (CAF), addresses an outstanding compensation need for providers on the front lines vaccinating underinsured patients.
More information about the program is available here. HRSA will be hosting a webinar to provide an overview and orient vaccinators to the program by covering information such as enrolling as a provider participant, submitting patient information, submitting claims, and receiving payment via direct deposit. Register for the Wednesday, May 12 webcast here.
On Thursday, April 22, DHS announced the official transition to Vaccines.gov (previously known as VaccineFinder). Vaccines.gov is available in English and Spanish and will help connect individuals with vaccinators near them.
On Friday, April 30, the DHS map was removed from the DHS website. If you have embedded the DHS map on your website, we advise you to replace that link with the Vaccines.gov widget. Instructions on how to do this can be found here.
CDC’s Clinical Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccines webpage has been updated with guidance about people vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines not authorized in the United States.
Some people may have received a COVID-19 vaccine that is not currently authorized in the United States. No data are available on the safety or efficacy of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine currently authorized in the United States after receipt of a non-FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine. However, in some circumstances people who received a COVID-19 vaccine not currently authorized in the United States may be offered revaccination with an FDA-authorized vaccine:
COVID-19 vaccines not authorized by FDA but authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO)
- People who completed a COVID-19 vaccination series with a vaccine that has been authorized for emergency use by WHO do not need any additional doses with an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine.
- People who are partially vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine series authorized for emergency use by WHO may be offered an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine series. This means that the individual should receive a first and second dose of the provider’s offered vaccine manufacturer.
COVID-19 vaccines not authorized by FDA or not authorized for emergency use by WHO
- People who completed or partially completed a COVID-19 vaccine series with a vaccine that is not authorized by FDA or not authorized for emergency use by WHO may be offered an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine series. This means that the individual should receive a first and second dose of the provider’s offered vaccine manufacturer.
Administration of an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine in these people should comply with all conditions of use specified under the EUA for the vaccine being used. The minimum interval between the last dose of a non-FDA authorized vaccine and an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine is 28 days.
CDC is inviting people who received COVID-19 vaccination in the periconception period (within 30 days before last menstrual period) or during pregnancy to participate in the v-safe COVID-19 Vaccine Pregnancy Registry. Pregnant people who would like to participate must be enrolled in v-safe. If people enrolled in v-safe report that they were pregnant at the time of vaccination or after vaccination, the CDC registry staff might contact them to learn more. More information can be found here.
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MMWR: Anxiety-Related Adverse Event Clusters After Janssen COVID-19 Vaccination — Five U.S. Mass Vaccination Sites, April 2021
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MMWR: Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Vaccines Against COVID-19 Among Hospitalized Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, January–March 2021
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MMWR: Modeling of Future COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, by Vaccination Rates and Nonpharmaceutical Intervention Scenarios — United States, April–September 2021
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MMWR: Safety Monitoring of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 Vaccine — United States, March–April 2021
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MMWR: Updated Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for Use of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 Vaccine After Reports of Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Among Vaccine Recipients — United States, April 2021
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Choosing Safer Activities: CDC published a webpage to inform the public about how COVID-19 vaccination impacts their safety with different activities.
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Clinical Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccines: This CDC webpage of important clinical considerations received multiple updates on April 27. For an overview of the recent updates, read this webpage’s section entitled, “Summary of recent changes (last updated April 27, 2021).”
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COVID-19 Vaccine Community Features: This CDC webpage features weekly stories that celebrate the people behind the vaccination program and give other communities ideas to improve their programs. If your agency would like to submit a story, you can email ISDcomm@cdc.gov. Include “CVCF Submission” in the subject, a summary of your story, and contact information. CDC will review it and send follow up instructions.
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Domestic Travel during COVID-19: CDC created a webpage about domestic travel guidance for COVID-19 vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans.
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Essential Workers COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit: CDC designed a toolkit to help employers educate essential workers about COVID-19 vaccines, raise awareness about the benefits of vaccination, and address common questions and concerns.
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Pause lifted on Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine: DHS recently published this handout. It provides information about why the vaccine was paused, why the pause was lifted, the rarity of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), the signs and symptoms of TTS, and other safety monitoring and efficacy messages.
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Product Information Guide: CDC updated this guidance to include specifications for the new presentation of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (13-15 dose vials) and its ancillary supply kit.
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Vaccine Partner Resources webpage: DHS redesigned this webpage. Visit this website for helpful resources such as guidance documents, printable health education handouts, social media materials, etc.
On Wednesday, May 12, 2021 ACIP will meet. The meeting can be viewed here. Registration is not required. The draft agenda is here.
DHS, in collaboration with other public health and health care partners, is hosting a series of shared learning forums each Thursday in May, from 12:00 to 1:00 PM, for the statewide network of vaccinators working to distribute the vaccine safely, efficiently, and equitably across Wisconsin. Each session will feature local vaccinators and their partners sharing their experiences, practices, and lessons learned. Learn more about each session in this flyer. Please register in advance here.
On May 11 at 9:00 AM CT, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is hosting a community discussion about how to ensure vaccine equity for people with disabilities and to assist, augment, and expedite vaccinations in the United States. Sign language interpreters and Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) captioning will be available. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please make your request at least 48 hours before the event. You can register here.
DHS is hosting a demonstration of the Wisconsin Vaccine Registry on May 12 from noon to 12:30 PM. Use this link to join. No pre-registration required. More information about this demonstration is available here.
Johnson & Johnson is hosting webinars multiple days in May with information for health care providers administering vaccine. The webinars are held at different times each day. The complete schedule is available here.
On May 11, 2021 at 9:00 AM, DHS will host the weekly office hours for vaccine coordinators, managers, and clinicians. You can sign up for the webinar on the DHS website.
On May 14, 2021 at 10:00 AM, DHS will host the weekly webinar for COVID-19 vaccine stakeholders. You can sign up for the webinar on the DHS website.
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