KEYWORDS:
VFC, vaccine waste, expired vaccines, education

BACKGROUND:
The Pennsylvania Vaccines for Children Program initiated the “Zero Vaccine Waste” campaign as an effort to reduce vaccine waste in private sector VFC-enrolled practices.

OBJECTIVE:
Identify causes of vaccine waste; educate providers to reduce vaccine waste.

METHOD:
Research showed that 89 percent of vaccine waste was due to vaccines expiring in providers’ inventories. Possible causes for the large percentage of expired vaccines are over-ordering, missed opportunities to immunize patients, and failure to manage vaccine inventory effectively. The Pennsylvania Vaccines for Children Program looked for innovative ways to catch the attention of busy office staff, raise awareness of the causes of vaccine waste, and offer strategies to reduce vaccine waste.
Because of the continual entry of newly enrolled providers into the VFC program and the high turnover of practice staff, the educational effort must be ongoing. We initiated a “Zero Vaccine Waste” campaign, with a variety of ways to deliver the message.
- Newly enrolled providers receive on-site training in vaccine management
- Quality assurance site surveys identify poor practices that contribute to vaccine waste and advise corrective action
- A variety of educational tools reinforce the “Zero Vaccine Waste” theme
- Providers are reminded to transfer vaccines they cannot use

RESULT:
Vaccine waste declined from 8 percent in 1998 to 2 percent in 2001. “Zero Vaccine Waste” remains an objective toward which to strive.

CONCLUSION:
Effective educational efforts to reduce waste must be continual and must be delivered in a variety of ways.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To share effective strategies for reducing vaccine waste in private practices enrolled in the Pennsylvania Vaccines for Children Program.