Each year, vaccine storage and handling errors result in significant financial loss from wasted vaccines and the revaccination of patients. When patients need to be revaccinated, they can lose faith in vaccines and providers. Proper handling and storage of vaccines can help protect patients and prevent vaccine waste. The CDC provides many resources for managing vaccine waste from handbooks and presentations to webinars and on demand courses. Below is an overview of the resources available.
The CDC’s Storage and Handling Resources main page is the hub for all resources. There you can find the Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit, an extensive guide to vaccine management. The toolkit can be downloaded from the website, and contains sections on vaccine cold chain, training staff, inventory management, temperature monitoring, and more.
The main page also contains temperature monitoring best practices fact sheets for both refrigerated and frozen vaccines and a guide for handling a temperature excursion.
The CDC also offers a course recommended for all immunization providers. The course is a self-paced document that averages 3 hours to complete, and CME credit is available. The course provides clinicians and other health care providers with ACIP’s best practices guidance on immunization.
The interactive, web-based immunization training course You Call the Shots contains a module on Vaccine Storage and Handling. This course also offers CME credit.
The Immunization Action Coalition provides a collection of handouts and fact sheets. These include signs to post in your clinic reminding staff not to turn off or unplug storage equipment, temperature logs, and various checklists.
For more information, see our blog posts on Handling Vaccine Temperature Anomalies and Refrigerator Repairs and on our LogTag temperature monitoring equipment discount for members. And remember, if you need to upgrade your vaccine storage equipment, CPP offers a grant to offset the cost.