OHIO VACCINE PREPAREDNESS OFFICE WEEKLY UPDATE

PANDEMIC VACCINE NEWS & UPDATES
December 29, 2020

Phase 1B announced – On Dec. 23, Governor Mike DeWine announced the next broad category of people eligible to be vaccinated during Phase 1B. The goals of Phase 1B are to save lives and to have K-12 students back in school full time by March 1. This phase, which is estimated to begin in mid-January, specifically includes:|

o Ohioans age 65 and older.

o People with severe congenital, developmental, or early-onset medical disorders that make them particularly vulnerable. This includes cerebral palsy; spina bifida; congenital heart disease; type 1 diabetes; inherited metabolic disorders; severe neurological disorders including epilepsy; severe genetic disorders including Down Syndrome, Fragile X, Prader Willi Syndrome, and Turner Syndrome; severe lung disease including cystic fibrosis and severe asthma; sickle cell anemia; and alpha and beta thalassemia.

o Employees in all schools that want to go back, or to remain, educating in person. The vaccine distribution plan for future priority populations is still under development and will be shared publicly as soon as it is finalized.

Don’t let unused COVID-19 vaccine go to waste – When faced with the possibility that a vial of vaccine will be wasted because no one from the priority group is present for vaccination, such as at the end of a vaccination clinic or session when the remaining vial must be either used or discarded, the CDC has clarified that no vaccine should ever be wasted. If you administer vaccinations under these circumstances:

o The vaccine administration must be reported in ImpactSIIS, including race and ethnicity data, within 24 hours.

o Target population/occupation data does NOT need to be reported for vaccinated individuals who are not in a Phase 1A priority population.

o The provider must include these vaccinated individuals in follow-up plans for administering second doses.

Moderna vaccine storage and handling guidance – Caution should be used to handle and transport the vaccine with care. Please review this Moderna vaccine storage and handling guide to ensure storage and temperature requirements are met.

Second dose guidance – Should you hold back vaccine for the second dose? What should be included on vaccination record cards? Detailed guidance on second dose administration is available now.

New COVID-19 maps – Governor DeWine shared two new maps for tracking how severe the spread of COVID-19 is in Ohio. The first map measures cases per capita over time. The first map is based on the list of high-incidence counties and indicates the levels of spread in a county. The second map shows each Hospital Preparedness Region and what percent of the overall ICU patient population are COVID-19 patients. Both maps will be updated weekly on Thursdays at coronavirus.ohio.gov.

Training available for collection of target population/occupation – Training for properly collecting target population/occupation data and reporting for ImpactSIIS is available now. As a reminder, providers will need to collect that data using a paper checklist and then add the information in ImpactSIIS within 24 hours using one of three processes.