WV VACS Team
Click here for information about the West Virginia VACS team - Vaccine Administration, Collaboration & Support.
COVID-19 Vaccine Update Related to Insulin Syringes
Over the past weeks, correspondence has been shared with you from the West Virginia Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) for COVID-19 Vaccines. An update in relation to the administration of the vaccine using insulin syringes has been provided.
The federal government is providing a variety of syringes to administer the COVID-19 vaccines due to a national shortage of some types of syringes. If the choice is an insulin syringe, the conversion is 10 units equal to 0.1mL. For the Pfizer product the dose is 0.3 mL, therefore one would administer 30 units. The Moderna vaccine dosage is 0.5mL or 50 units.
If you have questions, send an email to rnboard@wv.gov
Scheduling Your Vaccine
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The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
(WVDHHR) coordinates response to public health disasters in West Virginia and
has developed the West Virginia COVID-19 Vaccination Program plan with guidance
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This may be reviewed at COVID-19 Vaccine
(wv.gov). The primary purpose of
this plan is to provide a framework to guide implementation of the COVID-19
Vaccination Program. The goal of the WV COVID-19 Vaccination Plan is to see a
unified effort across state, federal, and local agencies to decrease COVID-19
infection rates and mortality rates. A successful vaccination campaign in West
Virginia will reduce the rates of disease within our state and reduce the
ability of COVID-19 to spread and impact our most vulnerable populations. This
plan is a "living document" that will be revised as new information
is obtained about specific vaccines approved for use, prioritized populations
and subgroups identified for vaccination, and partners’ and stakeholders’
recommendations.
Phase 1, vaccinations will be available exclusively to
specific pre-identified population/occupation groups including healthcare
personnel and other essential workers. If you are employed by a West Virginia
based organization, contact your employer for information. If your employer is not based in this state,
you may contact the Center for Threat Preparedness Bureau for Public Health of
the WVDHHR at the following for additional information:
Caitlin Cohn
Center for Threat Preparedness
Bureau for Public Health, WVDHHR
505 Capitol Street, Suite 200
Charleston, WV 25301
Email: Caitlin.R.Cohn@wv.gov
Additionally, you may go to WV Redi at
https://www.wvredi.org/ with the WV
Responder Emergency Deployment Information(REDI) system it is a web-based
system developed to facilitate health and medical response through
identification, credentialing and deployment of West Virginians willing to
serve in an emergency, as well as non-emergent situations. Registration is open
to West Virginia's health and medical professionals, as well as others who live
or work in West Virginia and are willing to assist during a health-related emergency
or event. During site registration, you will be required to provide basic
personal and professional information. You will be able to update this
information as changes occur. You may want to gather licenses (personal and
professional), credentials and immunization records before you begin your
registration process. Please remember that "volunteer" truly means
volunteer. You can choose, at any time, to decline any request that you receive
for deployment.
If your license status is NOT active and you want to assist
with the administration of vaccines, you must have an active RN license. To reinstate from lapsed status or from
inactive status, the applications are located on the WV RN Board website in the
nurse portal link located under the licensing tab at https://wvrn.boardsofnursing.org/wvrn If you are a retired or retiring registered
nurse or advanced practice registered nurse and want to render nursing service
to indigent and needy patients of a clinic organized, in whole or in part, for
the delivery of health care services uncompensated under a special volunteer
registered nurse license or advanced practice registered nurse license complete
the RN special volunteer license application or APRN special volunteer license
located under the Other application area.
For RNs actively working in West Virginia, If your employer has or plans to submit your name to the vaccination queue per the Vaccine Administration and Management System (VAMS), you do not need to complete this survey.
For RNs actively working in West Virginia, if your employer HAS NOT or does not submit your name to the vaccination queue per the Vaccine Administration and Management System (VAMS), PLEASE COMPLETE the survey. Please click on the link below to enter yourself into the system:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X3RYQWC
There is a limited supply of vaccines, so although the information may have submitted, you may not yet be eligible to receive the vaccine based on supply – but there be doses allocated to groups. Each week as more vaccines become available, the state will be able to reach out to more individuals across the overlapping phases in the allocation plan.
Once your information is uploaded to VAMS by the JIATF, you will receive an email from no-reply@mail.vams.cdc.gov indicating that you are now eligible to schedule a vaccination appointment. These emails can be filtered into an individual’s junk or clutter box, so it is important to check spam/junk folders if an individual believes they should have received the email to ensure it was not discarded improperly. Recipients will follow the link in the email to register in the VAMS system and set up their account.
Through VAMS, you will schedule an appointment to be vaccinated at your assigned designated location. At the present time, your designated location will be a local pharmacy and you will need to select this option. There are other options (hospital, Community Health Center, or health department) available however you are asked only to receive your administration at a local pharmacy. It is critical that the individual selects the appropriate location based on this guidance. It is important to read instructions prior to scheduling your appointment to ensure the appointment is not cancelled because you did not select the local pharmacy option.
You can only show up at the selected designated location during your appointment time to receive vaccination. VAMS will send the recipient information via text/email about scheduling another appointment to receive second dose.
WV COVID-19 Vaccines Communication Toolkit (version 4)