VAXELIS is a hexavalent pediatric vaccine codeveloped by Sanofi Pasteur and Merck. VAXELIS contains DTaP, IPOL, PedvaxHIB and Hep B. It will be available to start shipping from Sanofi Pasteur’s VaccineShoppe.com sometime in June 2021. This vaccine does contain PedvaxHIB and will not need to be reconstituted.

Pricing for VAXELIS will be based on how a customer chooses to use this vaccine in his/her practice. Sanofi Pasteur has offered a base price as well as a performance price for VAXELIS.

Base pricing will be available to all PCA customers. This pricing is for offices that choose to integrate VAXELIS at one or two of the 2, 4, 6 and 12-18 month well visits but continue using Pentacel or single entity DTaP, IPOL and HIB at the other visits. Offices may choose to do this for a variety of reasons. Another customer who would qualify for the base price for VAXELIS would be an office that chooses to have a few doses of VAXELIS on hand for parents who insist on few shots for their child or for patients who have previously received VAXELIS from another office and want to continue using it.

Performance pricing will only be available to PCA customers who commit to using VAXELIS for all patients at their 2, 4 and 6 month well visits. These offices can then give Pentacel or single entity DTaP and HIB at one of the patient’s 12-18 month old well visits.

To Start Implementing VAXELIS Into A Routine Vaccine Schedule An Office Has Two Options:

• Start using VAXELIS at the 2 month old well visit and then continue giving it to these patients at their 4 month and 6 month well visits. Any patient who had already received a dose or doses of Pentacel at a previous 2 month and/or 4 month old well visit could finish the 2, 4 and 6 month visits with another dose or doses of Pentacel.

• Another option would be to immediately start using VAXELIS for all 2, 4 and 6 month visits and save any doses of Pentacel the clinic has left to give to patients during one of the 12-18 month visits (whenever you give the fourth dose of DTaP).

Clinics interested in receiving VAXELIS Performance Pricing, need to return the VAXELIS Commitment Letter here.

If your clinic is thinking of using VAXELIS, please contact your payers immediately to find out reimbursement rates. The CPT Code for VAXELIS is 90697. Since this vaccine was approved by the CDC and ACIP more than a year ago, some insurance companies may have put in a “place holder” reimbursement rate since it was not yet available for purchase. You will want to make sure these companies are going to review this CPT code at upcoming meetings and set a reimbursement rate that will more than cover your cost.

For pricing information, please contact Amy at abullock@primarycarealliance.com.

As a part of Sanofi Pasteur’s 2021-2022 influenza vaccine direct offer, PCA members are eligible to participate in Sanofi Pasteur’s Schedule-to-Ship program. This gives you the ability to create an influenza vaccine shipment schedule, customize order size and shipment frequency, and manage reservations for the upcoming season according to expected patient demand.

Please Follow The Three Simple Steps Below To Create Your Own Influenza Vaccine Shipment Schedule:

1. Log into VaccineShoppe.com to review your confirmed influenza vaccine reservation.
2. Schedule your shipments online through your reservation page on VaccineShoppe.com.
   • Choose a preferred shipment frequency for each presentation within the pre-determined commitment percentages per month. You can create shipment schedules for the full influenza season.
   • Review and adjust your shipment schedule to best fit your immunization plan.
3. You will have until June 18, 2021, to create your influenza vaccine shipment schedule.

For Additional Information Regarding How To Access And Utilize Sanofi Pasteur’s 2021-2022 Schedule-To-Ship Program, Please Click Here.

Thank you for choosing to partner with Sanofi Pasteur as your 2021-2022 influenza manufacturer of choice.

For additional support and information on Sanofi Pasteur’s 2021-2022 influenza vaccine offer, please contact your Sanofi Pasteur representative or call 1-800-VACCINE (1-800-822-2463). All reservations are subject to Sanofi Pasteur’s Terms and Conditions of Sale in effect at the time of reservation confirmation, including credit review. Copies of which are available upon request or by logging on to VaccineShoppe.com.

More than 20% of patients are behind on routine vaccinations! In addition to all of the other challenges COVID-19 has brought us this past year, the CDC has reported a significant drop in vaccination rates. We now have the responsibility to try to catch these patients up on their routine vaccines!

Complicating this a bit for our adolescent patients, is the COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer-Biontech vaccine has been approved for patients 16 and older and on March 31, 2021, Pfizer-Biontech announced their positive study results of their COVID-19 vaccine in 12-15 year old participants.

This data will be submitted to the FDA in an effort to obtain an Emergency Use Authorization to give the Pfizer-Biontech COVID-19 vaccine to students 12-15 years old in the United States. While we anticipate this authorization is still a few months away, we do know they would like to start vaccinating these patients prior to this next school year.

However, we also need to get these patients caught up on their other routine vaccinations. Because they cannot be vaccinated 14 days before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine or 14 days after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, it is critical we get as many patients under the age of 16 into our offices to get caught up on their vaccinations as soon as possible. Patients 16 and older also need to be caught up and scheduled but this should be done with their COVID-19 vaccination plan in mind. You and your staff will have to explain to parents the importance of getting them in for catch up and back to school shots now instead of waiting until summer like many parents do.

It is vital for all of us to step up our efforts and take every opportunity to vaccinate these patients with their regular vaccines as soon as we can.Please review your office policies and procedures to see what changes you can make to better vaccinate your patients. Here is a great resource from Merck Vaccines with suggestions about how your office can help improve your adolescent/pediatric vaccination program. Some of these ideas are:

• Make sure nurses can administer vaccines by independently screening patients and administering vaccines under preexisting signed physician’s orders.
• Use every office visit – sick and well – to review a patient’s immunization status and get them caught up.
• Run queries using your EMR to find patients who are behind on well visits and vaccinations then proactively call them to schedule a time to come in for these visits.
• Provide opportunities for patients to walk in during office hours for a “nurse only” visit to be vaccinated.

Please take the time to review these and other suggestions in the handout from Merck. Even if your office has a great program in place there may be one or two suggestions that can help you increase your vaccination efforts.

I have also included a copy of the letter from the CDC for your reference. Please make sure to share this blog post and the resources included to those who need it in your office. This is a great topic for staff and department meetings. Doctors need to work hard to make sure all staff members understand the importance of vaccinating and catching up patients on their vaccination at every office visit. Any proactive calling and scheduling patients to come in that you can do will help this significantly! Share what is working for your office! Email me at abullock@primarycarealliance.com.