COVID Vaccinations Information




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)


West Virginia RN Board
5001 MacCorkle Ave, SW, South Charleston, WV 25309 (304) 744-0900