We hosted a webinar in October, “Flu Season Amidst COVID-19: Avoiding the Twindemic” presented by Dr. L.J. Tan, MS PHD, Chief Strategy Officer of the Immunization Action Coalition. Dr. Tan reviewed resources available for maintaining immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic and discussed the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Resources for Maintaining Immunization
The Immunization Action Coalition has prepared a Repository of Resources for maintaining immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is intended for use by healthcare settings, state and local health departments, professional societies, immunization coalitions, advocacy groups, and communities in their efforts to maintain immunization rates. The repository includes links to international, national, and state-level policies and guidance, as well as webinars, press releases, and media articles.
The IAC has also developed a Mass Immunization Clinic Resource Repository for developing mass vaccination clinics. These mass vaccination clinics administer vaccines to large numbers of people over a relatively short period of time, allowing for rapid and efficient immunization of communities.
Mass vaccination clinics are frequently held in non-traditional or temporary settings, such as parking lots, and patients may walk-through, drive-through or be treated curbside.
The Mass Immunization Clinic Repository includes guidance documents and toolkits that can be adapted to meet the needs of the mass vaccination clinic.
Development of COVID-19 Vaccines
Dr. Tan provided a COVID-19 vaccine update from the National Adult and Influenza Immunization Summit virtual meeting. The need to develop a COVID-19 Vaccine in record time comes at a time of explosion in basic scientific understanding. Advances in areas such as genomics and structural biology are supporting development of this vaccine1. There are over 200 COVID-19 vaccines currently under development with 37 now in clinical testing. At this time, within the United States, there are seven vaccine candidates being tested, with at least four in Phase III clinical trials. To find out more about these vaccine candidates, visit the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society COVID-19 vaccine tracker.
OTHER BLOGS YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN...
- The Critical Importance of Improving Immunization Rates During COVID-19
- Helmer Refrigerator Safeguards Investigational Product for First US-Based Phase III Trial of COVID-19 Vaccine!
- Healthcare Providers Prepare for a Huge Push of Flu Vaccinations this Fall
- Vaccine Storage: Capacity and Quality Considerations for the 2020-2021 Influenza Season
Once a COVID-19 vaccine(s) is approved and distributed, ensuring safe and effective vaccine inventories through the appropriate capacity and quality of vaccine storage will be crucial. Failure to maintain the cold chain can result in the loss of potency of vaccines. That is why it is critical to use effective cold storage units to help ensure every vaccine dose counts. Existing CDC recommendations for safe vaccine storage should be considered when choosing the equipment that will store your vaccine inventory.
Helmer Scientific offers a full range of vaccine refrigerators, freezers and ultra-low temperature freezers specifically designed for the storage of vaccines. Our solutions provide safe and effective vaccine storage and help meet CDC guidelines. We are prepared to support your storage needs as we rise to these new vaccine challenges together.
To view the entire webinar, Flu Season Amidst COVID-19: Avoiding the Twindemic, download the recording at the link below.
1 Developing COIVD-19 Vaccines at Pandemic Speed, The New England Journal of Medicine
