Search:

A summary of presentations from the weekly Summit partner webinars

February 16, 2023 – The latest Summit Summary

Vaccines Federal Implementation Plan Update – CDR Valeria Marshall (OASH)

CDR Valerie Marshall, MPH, PMP, Deputy Director, National Vaccine Program, Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), gave an update on the Vaccines Federal Implementation Plan.

(View slides.)

It is estimated that vaccines prevent six million deaths from vaccine preventable diseases annually. This was broadly recognized by Congress, who legislated the formation of the National Vaccine Program Office in 1986 as part of the National Childhood Injury Act as mandated in the legislation. The National Vaccine Program is charged with developing plans to describe how each of the various Federal departments will carry out their vaccine functions in a coordinated fashion.

National Plans History

  • First plan released in 1994
  • Latest plan released in 2023
  • Ultimate goal of the plans is to ensure vaccine availability and safety and reduce the burden of vaccine preventable diseases in the U.S.

National Vaccine Plan (released in 2021)

  • Five-year plan that articulates a comprehensive strategy to bolster coordination in vaccines and vaccination across five broad goals
    • Goal 1: Fostering innovation in vaccine development
    • Goal 2: Maintaining the highest levels of vaccine safety
    • Goal 3: Increasing knowledge and confidence in routinely recommended vaccines
    • Goal 4: Increasing access to and use of all routinely recommended vaccines
    • Goal 5: Protect health of the nation by supporting global immunization efforts

Federal Implementation Plan

  • The actions described in the plan align with the National Vaccine Plan across goals, objectives, and strategies
  • Guided by an inter-agency vaccine working group
  • Informed through two public comment periods

Interagency Vaccine Working Group – Federal Agencies

  • There are 11 HHS agencies, including the Department of Defense (DOD), The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Sample Strategies

  • Goal 1: Foster Innovation in Vaccine Development and Related Technologies
    • Promote the development of new vaccines and improvements to existing vaccines
      • Convene scientific meetings
      • Support basic research
    • New era of vaccinology, characterized by transformative technologies and manufacturing innovation
  • Goal 2: Maintain the Highest Levels of Vaccine Safety
    • Effectively communicate the strength of the U.S. Vaccine Safety System to providers, policymakers, and the public
      • The U.S. has a number of safeguards in place by law to help ensure vaccines are safe
    • Identify gaps in knowledge and support research
      • Support pre-clinical and clinical research
  • Goal 3: Increase Knowledge of and Confidence in Routinely Recommended Vaccines
    • Vaccine hesitancy fueled by misinformation will lead to deleterious outcomes
    • Increasing knowledge and confidence in recommended vaccines by disseminating immunization information through channels of communication
      • Social media
      • Traditional means of communication
  • Goal 4: Increase the Availability of Vaccines in a Variety of Settings
    • Increasing access to and use of all routinely recommended vaccines
    • Challenges included patient-level barriers to vaccination and financial barriers that providers face in providing vaccinations
    • The strategy focuses on making vaccines available in a variety of settings
    • Expanding immunization locations
  • Goal 5: Protect the Health of the Nation by Supporting Global Immunization Efforts
    • Supporting international vaccine development

Strengths of the Plan

  • COVID-19 pandemic and the monkey pox outbreak demonstrated a need for coordinated and collaborative efforts among federal agencies
  • The implementation plan provides a vision of collaboration among federal agendies
  • Demonstrates the federal agencies’ commitment to eliminate vaccine preventable diseases

Challenges to Implementation

  • Developing a cohesive national program with priorities from multiple federal agencies
  • Public’s attitudes and behavior on the use of vaccines
  • Transition from COVID-19 vaccine emphasis to all routine vaccine emphasis

Conclusion

  • Some activities can be adopted by non-federal entities
    • State and local immunization programs
    • Healthcare providers
    • Professional organizations
    • Academic institutions
    • Vaccine advocacy groups
    • Community Organizations
    • Summit members!
  • Vehicle for Coordination: the plan is intended to facilitate coordination of action by federal agencies to protect public health and achieve optimal prevention of disease
  • Progress: the agencies will report out on their specific actions via progress reports

Federal Implementation Plan can be found at www.hhs.gov/vaccines

 

Questions

 

Q: Will the progress reports be publicly available?

Valerie Marshall: Our intention is to make the progress reports publicly available and posted on our website.

 

Q: How often is that progress going to be measured?

Valerie Marshall: Ideally it would be an annual progress report, but the process with clearance may be slow. We plan to do at least one for this progress report which is 2021–2025.

 

Q: People are concerned with the public health emergency ending soon, what does that mean for access to COVID-19 vaccines for uninsured adults? Does the plan address that at all?

Valerie Marshall: There’s no specific strategy for that scenario, but that’s something we are considering internally.

 

Q: There was a strategy you mentioned about incentivizing providers. Any specifics about ways that the plan is proposing to incentivize providers?

Valerie Marshall: That action would be carried out by that specific agency that is incentivizing.

 

Q: Will there be any emphasis on tracking of racial equity in terms of vaccine uptake and access?

Valerie Marshall: There are objectors or strategies in the plan that look at health disparities and we know that CDC has the lead on tracking vaccine uptake by race and ethnicity. Addressing equity  is one of the top priorities of our department.

 

Q: Will there be any plans to create a community health worker initiative in communities with low vaccination rates?

Valerie Marshall: There are steps or actions in place to engage with communities, but not necessarily a community  health care worker initiative. We are definitely looking at that.

 

Q: Does the plan discuss a Vaccines for Adults program—something similar to the Vaccines for Children program?

Valerie Marshall: The plans don’t address that specifically, but it is geared toward both populations. We are looking at the full spectrum of the vaccine infrastructure across the lifespan.

 

BACK TO TOP

Announcements

BACK TO TOP

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Search: