Virginia COVID-19 Vaccination Updates
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On February 17, Virginia launched the Virginia COVID Information Center (VCIC), a dedicated interagency effort to provide Virginia residents and workers with an integrated, comprehensive solution for timely and accurate COVID-19 general information, in alignment with CDC guidelines, and to simplify vaccination pre-registration and scheduling services.
- Residents and workers can get information, pre-register, and verify that they have pre-registered, online 24/7 at vaccinate.virginia.gov or by calling (1-877-829-4682) 7 days a week, from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm ET.
- People aged 75 & older will have priority access to information. They’ll be in the express lane when calling the VCIC phone line.
- The VCIC phone line has hundreds of agents available to answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccine and help people get pre-registered. These include English- and Spanish-speaking agents, as well as a call-back service in more than 100 other languages. TTY service is available to assist people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired.
- Vaccine supply remains limited across the country. Virginia is prioritizing individuals who are most at risk of severe illness with COVID-19, most at risk of contracting COVID-19, or who work in certain essential occupations. Even if residents or workers are not yet eligible, they will be able to pre-register at vaccinate.virginia.gov or by calling 1-877-VAX-IN-VA. After residents and workers pre-register, they will receive a pre-registration confirmation number. When they become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, they will receive instructions from their local health department on how to schedule an appointment.
- The centralized pre-registration tool will help coordinate vaccination across Virginia in the most fair and equitable way possible.
- For FAQs about the VCIC, visit vaccinate.virginia.gov.
For Providers Currently Administering Vaccines
- As of February 16, in support of the Pfizer-BioNTech EUA update, the CDC is officially recording Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine vials as containing six doses, versus the original five doses. Federal data systems have been updated to reflect the change to account for all six vaccine doses.
- Use a call list or wait list to avoid wastage. If there is wastage or if a sixth dose cannot be obtained or used, it should be reported as wastage in the Vaccine Wastage Reporting Tool.
- If you do not have enough vaccine dose record cards, you can print your own. If unable to print, let VDH know and we'll try to connect you with a Local Health District that may be able to provide some for you. Ancillary kits are going to include more cards going forward.
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Beginning with orders approved on Saturday, February 20, vaccine shipments to providers will be preceded by two emails from McKesson:
- An order acknowledgment email that is sent once the order has been received into the McKesson system (NEW)
- An advance shipment email that is sent once the order has shipped from the McKesson depot and contains the carrier tracking details.
Both of these emails will be sent to the provider (facility) level email address that is transmitted with the order in VTrckS. Both of these emails will be sent from CDCNotifications@mckesson.com (Note: This is a NEW email address for emails from McKesson. Awardees should request that providers whitelist this address so that the emails are not blocked. Please do not send correspondence to this mailbox as it is not monitored for incoming emails.) If you have questions, please contact McKesson Specialty Customer Care at 833-343-2703 Monday – Friday, 8 am - 8 pm ET or COVIDVaccineSupport@McKesson.com.
Best Practice Spotlight
Enter doses in the Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS) within 24 hours
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The goal of VIIS is to support individuals, families and clinicians in making the best health decisions by providing a statewide, readily accessible and reliable Immunization Information System. VIIS is a free statewide registry system that combines immunization histories for persons of all ages from both the public and the private sector.
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Because real-time data are critical to rapid decision-making and reallocation of vaccines, COVID-19 vaccination providers must document vaccine administration in their medical record systems* within 24 hours of administration. *To expedite the process, consider using an electronic medical record system that automatically uploads to VIIS, such as PrepMod. To learn more about VIIS, visit the VDH VIIS Website.
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Obtain and enter all key patient information into VIIS, including race and ethnicity. This allows VDH to identify gaps in coverage, especially in regard to vaccine equity, which can inform outreach efforts.
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Reliable data entry into VIIS is critical to vaccine allocation and second dose distribution across the state. Second dose allocations are dependent on accurate entries of first dose administration records into VIIS. One of the factors VDH uses to prioritize vaccine allocations is a provider's ability to accurately report doses to VIIS in a timely manner.
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Reporting redistribution information is also critical because this may impact future allocation of vaccine. Facilities or systems that intend to redistribute or transfer COVID-19 vaccine to other providers should ensure they understand and follow the COVID-19 Vaccine Redistribution Process. Also, remember to use this survey link to report when you redistribute COVID-19 vaccine to another provider or facility.
Check out our complete list of COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic Best Practices here.
Upcoming Events
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February 24, 1 pm: CDC Foundation Webinar: COVID-19 Response Updates and Resources from CDC and the Ad Council.
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February 26, 9 am-5:30 pm: Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC)meeting to discuss the request for emergency use authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen Biotech Inc.
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March 5, 1-2:15 pm: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) – Transforming Public Health Through Leadership, Justice, and Racial Healing
Helpful Resources
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COVID-19 vaccination of homebound persons presents unique challenges to ensure the vaccine is appropriately stored, handled, and administered. CDC has developed new guidance for persons vaccinated at home or in small group settings (e.g., residential facilities, group homes), and includes how to transport small numbers of doses of vaccine and punctured vials. This guidance can be found here.
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Please continue to promote the v-safe after vaccination health checker. Ask vaccination providers in your jurisdiction to:
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Hand out the v-safe information sheet to vaccine recipients
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Encourage vaccine recipients to register for v-safe.
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The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a national early warning system to detect possible safety problems in U.S.-licensed vaccines.
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Providers are required to report vaccine administration errors, serious adverse events, cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS), and cases of COVID-19 that result in hospitalization or death after the recipient has received COVID-19 vaccine to VAERS. Refer to VAERS FAQs for more information.
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New: Selected Adverse Events Reported after COVID-19 Vaccination Results from monitoring efforts are reassuring. Some people have no side effects. Many people have reported only mild side effects after COVID-19 vaccination. To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines.
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Vaccination FAQs were last updated on February 18th and are updated at least weekly with new information. This week’s updates include:
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Virginia is expected to meet Phase 1b demand by March or April.
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Pre-registration information.
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