Health Care Provider Resources

Immunization

Vaccination During COVID-19

Health care providers should continue vaccinating during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially infants who are at high risk of getting vaccine-preventable diseases. Slowing or stopping access to vaccinations increases our risk of other disease outbreaks.

On this page:
Decreased immunization administration data
Considerations for health care providers
Providing vaccinations while protecting patients and staff
Reminders
Helpful resources for providers
Video PSA

Decreased immunization administration data

For the last several months, stay at home orders, concerns about COVID-19, adjusting to social distancing guidelines, and other factors have likely contributed to decreased immunization administration for children in Minnesota and across the country. These data look at MMR administration to children under the age of 2 by week, comparing 2019 to 2020. Weeks are defined Sunday-Saturday. Data are from the Minnesota Immunization Information Connection and are updated weekly.

Previous reports have described MMR administration across all ages. Here, we focus on children under two to illustrate immunization trends in the most vulnerable age group.

Updated 8/11/20

Doses of MMR Administered by Week, Minnesota 2019 and 2020

Week*	2019	2020
1	955	785
2	1,338	1,332
3	1,227	1,205
4	1,194	1,176
5	987	1,195
6	1,125	1,128
7	1,289	1,049
8	1,097	1,116
9	1,350	1,110
10	1,241	1,040
11	1,227	1,045
12	1,241	783
13	1,216	562
14	1,278	646
15	1,179	749
16	1,372	809
17	1,358	903
18	1,406	1,014
19	1,358	1,028
20	1,340	1,141
21	1,404	1,181
22	1,190	988
23	1,314	1,132
24	1,302	1,097
25	1,234	1,181
26	1,300	1,228
27	974	1,024
28	1,400	1,117
29	1,348	1,134
30	1,254	1,129
31	1,230	1,105

*MMWR week, which is the week of the year for which the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) disease report is assigned for the purposes of MMWR disease incidence reporting and publishing.

Considerations for health care providers

As you assess your facility's capacity to continue providing vaccinations during COVID-19, consider these things:

Risks to patients around possible exposure to COVID-19 when they come in for vaccinations and well-child visits.
Strategies in clinic operations to mitigate these risks.
Local level of COVID-19 illnesses and how many sick patients come to your clinic.
Impact of COVID-19 illnesses on clinic staff.

Providing vaccinations while protecting patients and staff

Consider these actions to help provide a safe environment for patients and staff when vaccinating:

Limit well visits to early morning and use the rest of the day for sick visits.
Dedicate specific clinics, buildings, or rooms for sick visits and for well visits.
Conduct well-child visits for newborns, and for infants and younger children who require vaccinations, and reschedule well-child visits for older children for a later date.
Lower the number of patients on-site at any one time. Think about closing a waiting room or registration area and have patients check in by phone from the parking lot.
Consider different entrances in your clinic – one for sick and one for well patients.
Clearly mark entrances for patients who are high risk for COVID-19.
Tell patients who are sick to use telemedicine or a phone call.
Determine which chronic conditions may be safely managed by a phone consult or telemedicine visit.
Consider calling patients the day prior to well-child visits to screen for upper respiratory infection symptoms (i.e., fever, cough, shortness of breath). Reschedule appointments for families who are sick.

Because of personal, practice, or community circumstances related to COVID-19, some providers may not be able to provide well-child visits, including giving vaccinations, for all patients in their practice. Health care providers are encouraged to prioritize newborn care and vaccination of infants and young children (through age 24 months) if a practice can provide only limited well-child visits.

Reminders

Consider that COVID-19 illnesses may impact staffing. Make sure that new staff are trained to properly prepare and administer vaccines.
Continue to take every opportunity to vaccinate.

PDF version of recommendations and reminders for print: Pediatric Vaccination During COVID-19 (PDF)