VFC Updates and Open Forum March 4, 2026

This message is being sent to Vaccines for Children (VFC) providers, local health officers, Tribal health directors, and Immunization Program staff.

VFC open forum March 4, 2026

The Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) and the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR) units will hold an open forum session to give you an opportunity to ask questions that you may have about VFC, vaccine ordering, WIR, WIR reports, and more. After the presentation there will be open Q&A.

This session is scheduled for March 4, 2026, from 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. 

Join via zoom 

Participation is not required, but is being offered as another tool for you to connect with VFC and WIR staff from the Immunization Program.

These open forum sessions are held once a month. Please save the following dates for future VFC open forums:

• April 1, 2026, 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
• May 6, 2026, 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
• June 3, 2026, 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Temporary temperature monitor change with refrigerated vaccine shipments

Starting on February 23, 2026, McKesson began to temporarily transition from electronic TagAlert temperature monitoring to chemical temperature monitors in refrigerated vaccine shipments, due to a shortage of TagAlerts. This is expected to last until mid to late April.

During this transition, all refrigerated vaccine shipments will include a flyer regarding temperature monitors for your reference. McKesson will also be shipping all vaccine orders in the EcoFlex coolers during this time. These coolers provide enhanced temperature stability and a longer shipment qualification time. EcoFlex coolers must be returned. The prepaid label can be found under the inner flap of the box.

VAERS reporting

All VFC providers are required to report any adverse event following vaccination they are made aware of to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Likewise, vaccine administration errors should be reported to VAERS. Please ensure all of your staff are trained on reporting procedures.

VAERS is a national early warning system to detect possible safety problems in U.S.-licensed vaccines. VAERS is co-managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Though anyone can report an adverse event to VAERS, health care professionals are required to report certain adverse events and vaccine manufacturers are required to report all adverse events that come to their attention. 

VAERS is a passive reporting system, meaning it relies on individuals to send in reports of their experiences to CDC and FDA. VAERS is not designed to determine if a vaccine caused a health problem, but is especially useful for detecting unusual or unexpected patterns of adverse event reporting that might indicate a possible safety problem with a vaccine.

A VAERS report can be completed electronically at VAERS - Report an Adverse Event Step 1  or by completing a VAERS - Download / Upload a Writable PDF Form . If you need assistance with reporting to VAERS, please email info@VAERS.org or call 1-800-822-7967.

Additional information can be found at VAERS - About Us . 

V-safe

V-safe is part of the U.S. vaccine safety system that CDC and other federal agencies use to closely monitor the safety of vaccines. Through V-safe participation, CDC obtains data about post-vaccination experiences that informs vaccine research and recommendations. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 9.5 million people completed more than 150 million V-safe check-ins about their experiences following COVID-19 vaccination. This data is publicly available and has been included in more than 20 scientific publications.

Anyone who receives a COVID-19 vaccine (or their parent/caregiver), an RSV vaccine, and/or a maternal RSV vaccine, can sign up for a V-safe account to begin receiving and completing check-ins to share with CDC how they feel after vaccination.

Vaccine recipients can sign up for V-safe by using a smartphone, tablet, or computer and going to the V-safe login. 

Additional information can be found on the V-safe web site.

Vaccine administration errors

Vaccine administration errors can have severe consequences. These errors can lead to lack of protection, possible injury to the patient, inconvenience, and reduce confidence in health care. Common administration errors can include wrong vaccine, wrong dosage, wrong timing, or administering an expired or spoiled dose.

Vaccine administration errors are preventable, review the following resources for strategies to prevent administration errors.

• CDC: Vaccine Administration: Preventing Vaccine Administration Errors
• Immunize.org: Don’t Be Guilty of These Preventable Errors in Vaccine Administration

 If a vaccine administration error does occur, make sure to complete the following steps:

• Inform the recipient/parent/guardian of the administration error including the name of the vaccine given in error and the corrective measure to be taken.
• Document the error in WIR as it was administered. Do not try to change or revise so that it reads as valid. While it will state invalid, that is what the patient received and is important for maintaining accurate inventory as well as full disclosure as to the vaccines that were administered.
• Determine how the error occurred and implement strategies to prevent it from happening again. A discussion on strategies to prevent errors can be found in Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (Pink Book). Additional resources can be found on CDC’s vaccine administration web page, including a job aid for preventing errors.
• Report the vaccine administration error to: Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and ISMP Healthcare Practitioner’s Vaccine Error Reporting Form (VERP).

Please do not reply directly to this email message. If you have a question, please email Jackie Nelson. Additional information about the Vaccines for Children Program is available on the Department of Health Services website.