Flu Vaccine Program

The provincial influenza vaccination campaign is set to start in October. Influenza vaccines will be offered to BC residents at community public health clinics, pharmacies, as well as physician and nurse practitioner offices.

Yes. The Influenza vaccine is recommended and provided free for all BC residents ≥ 6 months of age. In particular, the influenza vaccine should be offered to individuals at high risk of influenza complications (children 6-59 months, seniors, pregnant women, people 5-64 years with underlying chronic health conditions), those in contact with people at high risk including visitors to health care facilities, people who provide essential community service providers, and anyone else who wishes to reduce their risk of influenza.

There will be enough supply in BC for all residents who want to be immunized. Similar to last year, participating offices will receive a start-up supply. As VCH expects several vaccine deliveries, clinics will be able to re-order modest amounts.

Yes. The Vancouver Division has once again partnered with MTS Logistics/Medi-Tran Services to offer eligible primary care clinics FREE vaccination delivery direct to clinic during the influenza season. This Division-funded support allows delivery of vaccinations in a safe and timely manner from your designated CHC vaccination depot directly to your clinic. This year eligible clinics can have their initial allocation and re-orders delivered by MTS. If your clinic is ineligible to receive complimentary vaccine delivery through VDoFP, Influenza vaccines can still be ordered and picked up directly from your local CHC free of charge – or you can set up an account with MTS to facilitate vaccine deliveries to your clinic. Your local CHC will be able to assist with your order, while MTS Logistics can provide with paid delivery. Your clinic should have received a communication from VCH about initial vaccine allocations and the option for delivery of your initial allocation. If you have not received the VCH communication or haven’t replied, please email CDCVaccines@vch.ca and andrew.reyes@vch.ca

VCH will contact the clinic to discuss what day/time is best for vaccine delivery. This information will be passed on to MTS. During the week of October 6th, MTS will begin delivery as VCH packages the vaccine allocation.

VCH will contact your clinic to advise which date you can pick up at your usual local health unit.

VCH allows anyone associated with the clinic to pick up vaccine. It does NOT have to be a physician. Everyone is expected to transport the vaccine in a way that supports the cold chain.

This is unchanged from prior years. Best practice requires a cooler, cold water blankets and ice packs. Keep in mind that pre-filled syringe format products require much more space than multidose vials for transport & storage. Learn more about VCH guidelines

Quarantine and label vaccines inside the fridge and do not administer until further instruction from your local VCH public health unit. Once quarantined, please contact your local VCH public health unit and ask to speak with the Biological Product Consultant for determination on the product viability.

Vaccines available this year include FLUZONE Trivalent, FLUVIRAL Trivalent, FLUMIST and FLUAD. You will likely be offered some of each product. Flumist is a popular product and is available in limited quantities this season. The health authority will make every effort to allocate it to locations where eligible individuals can access it.

The supply chain for influenza vaccines involves manufacturing and then transport between several organizations. Influenza vaccine is delivered from the different manufacturers on different dates to the BCCDC (the provincial depot), and from there it is distributed to the Health Authorities. VCH distributes all of the vaccine it receives as quickly as it can once it is received centrally from the BCCDC.

We recommend that you schedule your high-volume clinics based on vaccine distributed to your office in early October. You may be able to book additional high-volume clinics in late October; please wait for supply updates and let us know how much vaccine you may need for those late clinics (based on appointment bookings). Please email projects@vancouverdivision.com Additionally, the Division is delighted to announce that UBC medical student volunteers are available to assist your clinic in administering influenza vaccines! In turn, clinics can provide students with a great practical experience. Most volunteers are first or second year students and are generally available evenings, weekends, and Tuesdays and Thursdays (mornings and afternoons). Sign up for medical student volunteer support with administering vaccines.

Yes. You only need to request the amount of vaccine that you realistically expect to use this year. Vaccine not used in your office is not available to other locations. We appreciate you taking a realistic assessment of vaccine utilization in your office and supporting placement of orders accordingly.

VCH Public Health and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) still recommend a 15-minute post-injection observation period. A shorter observation period between 5-15 minutes may be considered if the conditions below are met:

• Client has received influenza vaccine before and did not have a severe reaction;
• No history of immediate post-vaccination reactions following any vaccines (e.g. syncope);
• There’s another adult who can monitor the vaccine recipient for 15 minutes;
• The vaccine recipient is not operating a motorized or another wheeled transportation device for a min of 15 minutes (so they can wait in the parking lot for the total 15 minutes);
• The vaccine recipient/responsible adult knows when to seek post vaccination advice/medical assistance;
• The client agrees to wait in the post-vaccination waiting area for the reduced observation period.

As in prior years, the recommendation is to not defer and use the best option you have on hand to vaccinate patients rather than waiting until other types are available.

Influenza vaccines arrive in varying volumes through staggered shipments throughout the season. The health authority strives to allocate supplies proportionally, based on usage from previous years.

This process remains the same as prior years. You can email (preferred) or fax your local CHC that normally supplies your biologicals. The CHC will contact your clinic by email once the order is filled. VCH is targeting to have your order ready for pickup within 1-2 business days. If you want your re-orders delivered via MTS courier, please cc vaccine@mtslogistics.com.

Community public health and pharmacy clinics will be using Immunize BC for appointment booking as per the previous season: https://immunizebc.ca/finder#8/49.246/-123.116

Yes. According to VCH, BCCH will operate its immunization clinic.

Yes, as in previous years, unused or expired vaccines will need to be returned to VCH. In the spring, eligible clinics can request complimentary pick up of unused or expired vaccines. You will receive email communication about this year’s returns program.

Family physicians are not required to report influenza vaccine administered in their offices to local public health or provincial immunization registry. It is a best practice recommendation for them to provide a copy of the immunization record to their patient. Should practices wish to report immunizations to the provincial immunization registry, there are many ways to make this happen:

• Electronically via eForms: For access and login, please email: eFormsEnrolment@phsa.ca.
• Electronically via ImmsBC systems: For access, please email: BCVax-Support@gov.bc.ca

Patients can also submit their immunization records to the Provincial Immunization Registry for upload. Once the records have been entered, it can be viewed on Health Gateway.

Please send your completed order form via email to CDCVaccines@vch.ca . If you need access to the COVID-19 order from please contact CDCVaccines@vch.ca.

All COVID-19 immunizations are required to be recorded via eforms or ImmsBC. For assistance or additional questions regarding reporting requirements please contact CDCVaccines@vch.ca.

Please email CDCVaccines@vch.ca who can support with questions regarding ordering, cold chain management, documentation and clinical resources.

Please refer to the COVID-19 toolkit (above) for more information on how to get authorization.

The Division is delighted to announce that UBC medical student volunteers are available to assist your clinic in administering influenza vaccines! In turn, clinics can provide students with a great practical experience. Most volunteers are first or second year students and are generally available evenings, weekends, and Tuesdays and Thursdays (mornings and afternoons). Sign up for medical student volunteer support with administering vaccines.