On June 2, President Biden announced a National Month of Action to mobilize national organizations, community-based and faith-based partners, businesses, social media influencers, celebrities, athletes, colleges, young people, and thousands of volunteers to get as many U.S. adults as possible at least one COVID-19 vaccine by July 4.

• Virginia's support of this initiative includes the following efforts: free child care, extended pharmacy hours, community canvassing, phone banking, text banking, vaccination events, a “We Can Do This” National Vaccination Tour, the U.S. Conference of Mayors Challenge, "Shots at the Shop", Local TV, radio, social media, COVID-19 College Challenge, and business incentives.
• We encourage you to share these resources with your patients and communities.

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced that five pharmacy partners will expand their hours on certain days through July 4 to provide COVID-19 vaccination as part of the National Vaccine Month of Action.A total of 147 pharmacies are offering extended hours on Fridays, representing approximately 2,325 additional hours of vaccination accessibility.

• Please spread the word about the participating pharmacies in your area with your community and patients.
• Those offering extended hours are currently heavily concentrated in the Northern Virginia, Richmond, and Tidewater areas. Providers in other locations, especially rural areas, may want to encourage their local pharmacies to offer extended hours.

VDH recognizes that providers are critical to our effort in bolstering vaccine confidence as trusted messengers of factual information. For this reason, VDH is offering three levels of support and resources for providers to inspire vaccine confidence in their communities and conduct outreach sessions with their patients .

• In addition to the on-demand toolkit and resources, providers can complete the Tele Town-Hall questionnaire to request technical platform and VDH expert support.

Governor Northam announced that 70% of Adult Virginians have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and that Virginia has reached this key vaccination milestone two weeks ahead of the July 4 goal set by President Biden. Virginia is the 16th state in the nation to meet this goal.

• No orders will be delivered on Independence Day Monday, July 5, (federally observed holiday).
• As a reminder, all Small Shipment Redistribution Program (SSRP) requests should be requested through VaxMaX. **Note**: The SSRP is not meant to replace the normal ordering procedures; if a provider is able to handle standard shipping quantities, providers should do so.
• For questions about VaxMaX and its functionality, please visit the VaxMaX help website as a resource for reference guides and tutorial videos.

As students prepare to return to school in the fall, VDH encourages providers to review the CDC guidance on simultaneous administration of childhood and adolescent vaccines, as COVID-19 vaccines and other vaccines may now be administered without regard to timing. This includes simultaneous administration of COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines on the same day, as well as coadministration within 14 days.   CDC’s best practices for multiple injections include:

• Label each syringe with the name and the dosage (amount) of the vaccine, lot number, the initials of the preparer, and the exact beyond-use time, if applicable.
• Separate injection sites by 1 inch or more, if possible.
• Administer the COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines that may be more likely to cause a local reaction (e.g., tetanus-toxoid-containing and adjuvanted vaccines) in different limbs, if possible.

Check out our complete list of updated COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic Best Practices and our Lightning Learnings: Best Practices for Busy Providers!

Upcoming Events

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• June 23-25, 2021: Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) - This meeting will discuss and provide and update on COVID-19 vaccine safety, including myocarditis and pericarditis after mRNA vaccines; VaST assessment; COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in adolescents and young adults: benefit-risk discussion; and an overview of data to inform recommendations for additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines (Wednesday). The meeting will also cover vaccines for dengue, influenza, and rabies (Thursday), and vaccines for zoster and pneumococcal disease (Friday). The COVID-19 vaccine discussion was rescheduled from June 18, 2021 because of the observation of the Juneteenth National Independence Day holiday..

• June 23, 1 - 2 pm: Public Health Communications Collaborative | COVID-19 Vaccination and Children – Answering Parents’ Questions

• June 23,1 pm: Stronger | How to Fight Misinformation on Social Media

• June 24, 1 - 2:30 pm: Motivate to Vaccinate: National Month of Action for COVID-19 Vaccinations (2021-06-24)

• June 24, 2:30 pm: Achieving Equity in a Time of Scarcity: Lessons from the COVID-19 Vaccine Experience 
• June 25, 2 - 6 pm: HHS | COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force Meeting - As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is hereby giving notice that the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force (Task Force) will hold a virtual meeting on June 25, 2021. The purpose of this meeting is to consider interim recommendations addressing the inequities and the impact of long-COVID or Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), and access to personal protection equipment, testing, and therapeutics that are related to this pandemic. This meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed at www.hhs.gov/live. Information about the meeting will be posted on the HHS Office of Minority Health website: www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/healthequitytaskforce prior to the meeting.

 

• Visit VDH’s Variants of the Virus that Causes COVID-19 webpage and share information with your staff and communities.
• Prevaccination Checklist for COVID-19 Vaccines Information COVID-19 Vaccines - May 27, 2021
• The COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Requirements and Support webpage has been updated with new or clarifying language related to requirements of the COVID-19 Vaccination Program. This webpage serves as a repository for any updates to the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Provider Agreement including any updates to recommendations, requirements, and other guidance related to the program.