KEYWORDS:
Vaccine shortage; vaccine administration; community collaboration

BACKGROUND:
Due to the nationwide childhood vaccine shortage of 2002, the Fort Wayne Allen County Department of Health (DOH) estimated receiving approximately 20% of the necessary vaccines for an indefinite period of time.

OBJECTIVE:
To decrease morbidity and mortality associated with vaccine preventable diseases (VPD's) in high-risk populations in the community during times of vaccine shortage.

METHOD:
The Allen County Immunization Coalition emergently convened to discuss this issue, inviting other essential individuals to participate including local physicians, nurses, and biology professors. Centers for Disease Control and Indiana State Department of Health recommendations were reviewed, and a literature search was performed to identify populations at risk for complications of VPD’s. Considering this information, the Coalition authored the “Protocol for Vaccine Administration during Vaccine Shortages” addressing shortages of four vaccines. This protocol was critically reviewed by local physicians and nurses, and then communicated to the private provider community by broadcast fax and office inservice. The media generously covered this issue and Allen County’s response for the general public. Levels for each vaccine were determined weekly based on current inventories. Children presenting at immunization clinics for unavailable vaccine were entered into a deferral database to be used for future recall.

RESULT:
As of October 2002, 7,724 doses of vaccine had been deferred, and 762 recalls had been completed.

CONCLUSION:
Those children at greatest risk for complications from VPD’s were vaccinated, while those at less risk were deferred. The collaboration between the DOH, the Allen County Immunization Coalition, and local physicians was vital in drafting a plan to respond to the vaccine shortage, and truly represents the role of public health in a community.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Learn how to create, implement, communicate, and evaluate a “Protocol for Vaccine Administration during Vaccine Shortages” and how an immunization coalition’s presence is vital to a community’s health.