Vaccination Update

As members are aware, the State is now mandating COVID-19 vaccination of staff in multiple health care settings, including nursing homes, adult care facilities (ACFs), home care agencies, diagnostic and treatment centers, and hospitals. More on the mandate may be found in a separate Intelligence article here.

NYSIIS COVID-19 Data Update

The Department of Health (DOH) indicated last week that errors and omissions in New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS) data made during the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long Term Care have been corrected. Members are encouraged to check their records in NYSIIS to confirm that this is the case. Please let Meg Everett know if your facility continues to see errors or omissions in vaccine data. LeadingAge NY will be requesting that facility vaccination data be a resource relied upon as residents and staff will be eligible for booster doses this fall. Members should reach out to our office regarding other aspects in which data concerns may be an impediment to the third dose process.

For residents and staff with accurate information in NYSIIS and the New York City Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR), but who are having trouble accessing the Excelsior Pass, please make sure that you are inputting the correct information in the app. This resource may help in this effort.

Communication on Pfizer FDA Approval and Extension of Shelf Life

The State issued a communication to all vaccinators regarding the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) granting of full licensure for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine on Aug. 23, 2021. The full licensure applies to the use of this vaccine in the 16+ population. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA) for adolescents 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain (moderately or severely) immunocompromised individuals. This vaccine will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee).

The communication also provides detail that the FDA approved an amendment to the EUA for Pfizer-BioNTech extending the expiration dates for the COVID-19 vaccine from six to nine months. The extended expiration date is effective immediately for all currently available batches that have not yet expired and have been maintained in ultra-cold storage. Please note that the expiration date extension does NOT apply to vials dated July 2021 and earlier. The communication provides additional detail on the extension of the vaccine provided certain storage conditions are carried out.

Timing of mRNA Vaccine Doses

Members have inquired about the timing of second doses of mRNA vaccine when there is a broad stretch of time between the two doses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) current recommendation is to move forward with the second dose if an individual is more than six weeks past the first dose date, not restart the series. This seems to be an early recommendation by the CDC and does not account for a long span of time between doses. The CDC states that they have no other data on this issue and, at this time, this is the current recommendation. They will be elevating this question for more current consideration. LeadingAge NY will inform members if the CDC takes a new position on this.

Information regarding timing of COVID-19 vaccination with influenza vaccination and TB testing may be found here.

Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-929-9342