Routine Vaccination during the COVID-19 Outbreak

What is the status of the COVID-19 vaccine?
There is currently no licensed vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Research and development programs are underway in the U.S. and around the world to develop a vaccine that is safe and effective.

What does CDC advise about administering routine immunizations to children and teens when COVID-19 is circulating?
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing rapidly and continues to affect communities across the U.S. differently. Ensuring the delivery of newborn and well-child care, including childhood immunization, requires strategies to keep children safe. Healthcare providers in affected communities are using strategies to separate well visits from sick visits.

Examples include: 
  • Scheduling well visits in the morning and sick visits in the afternoon.
  • Placing patients with sick visits in different areas of the clinic or another location from patients with well visits.
  • Collaborating with other immunization providers in the community to identify separate locations for holding well visits for children.

Because of personal, practice, or community circumstances related to COVID-19, some providers may not be able to carry out well-child visits, including provision of immunizations, for all patients in their practice. If a practice can provide only limited well-child visits, healthcare providers are encouraged to prioritize newborn care and vaccination of infants and young children (through age 24 months) when possible.

Should infants born to women with hepatitis B virus infection (hepatitis B surface antigen-positive [HBsAg+]) be treated differently during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus infection requires timely vaccination and administration of hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) at birth, followed by completion of the hepatitis B vaccine series and post-vaccination serologic testing. Every effort should be made to complete the vaccination series on time. CDC has provided interim guidance for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B available at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/schedule-changes.html.

What does CDC advise about administering routine immunizations to adults when COVID-19 is circulating?
In areas with community transmission of COVID-19, vaccination visits should be postponed except when: 
  • An in-person visit must be scheduled for some other purpose and vaccination can be done during that visit without increasing the risk of COVID-19 exposure; or
  •  An individual patient and their clinician believe that there is a compelling need for vaccination based on an assessment that the potential benefit outweighs the risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19.
CDC recommendations about how to deliver immunizations to adults in areas with community transmission of COVID-19 may be updated regularly. Current guidance is available at this website:
www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/schedule-changes.html 

When COVID-19 is circulating, if I have the opportunity to vaccinate a child, teen, or an adult, should I administer only high priority vaccines, or should I administer all routine vaccines that are due at that visit?
You should continue to follow CDC’s best practice guidelines and administer all recommended vaccines simultaneously when no specific contraindications exist at the time of the visit. By administering all vaccines due at the visit, you will reduce the total number of healthcare encounters necessary for the patient to be fully vaccinated.

Some patients develop flu-like symptoms or fever after vaccination with recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV, Shingrix; GSK). Should I defer Shingrix vaccination because such a reaction might be confused with COVID-19?
 No. If you have an opportunity to vaccinate a patient age 50 years or older who is due for dose 1 or dose 2 of Shingrix, proceed with vaccination as usual. It is important to counsel the patient about the risk of self-limited side effects, including local reactions, such as redness, pain, or swelling at the injection site, and systemic reactions, which include fever, chills, headache, and body aches. If they occur, such side effects normally resolve within 72 hours after vaccination.  
Because of concerns about COVID-19, if a vaccine recipient develops fever after vaccination, they should stay home until it resolves. Shingrix vaccination does not cause respiratory symptoms common in COVID-19, such as cough or shortness of breath. If the vaccine recipient develops new symptoms of cough or shortness of breath, or if fever does not resolve within 72 hours of vaccination, the recipient should contact their healthcare provider. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
 


Connecticut News​​​​​
​
National News

December 9, 2019
November 1, 2019
October 26, 2019​
October 18, 2019
September 18​, 2019 September 16​, 2019
September 11, 2019
September 5, 2019
September 3, 2019
August 27, 2019
August 14, 2019
August 6, 2019