The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Department of Public Health
William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute
305 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Bureau of Infectious Disease
Division of Epidemiology and Immunization
Tel:  (617) 983-6800 
Fax: (617) 983-6840 
www.mass.gov/dph/epi
www.mass.gov/dph/imm

MARYLOU SUDDERS
Secretary
MONICA BHAREL, MD, MPH Commissioner

CHARLES D. BAKER
Governor
KARYN E. POLITO
Lieutenant Governor

To:		Health Insurers and Health Plans

CC: 		Health Care Providers

From:		Pejman Talebian, MA, MPH, Director
		Immunization Program

		Robert W. Morrison, Vaccine Manager
		Immunization Program

Date:		April 1, 2015

Subject:	1)	Universal Distribution of Influenza Vaccine for All Children
Through 18 years of Age
2)	Expanded Availability of Hepatitis A, Tdap, and Varicella 
Vaccine for All Children through 18 Years of Age
3)	Recommendation to Continue Reimbursing for Privately-Purchased Vaccines for a Period of Time During this Transition
_______________________________________________________________________

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) is pleased to announce the expanded availability of several state-supplied vaccines for all children through 18 years of age.

Influenza Vaccine
Influenza vaccine (in multiple formulations) will be universally available for all children through 18 years of age regardless of insurance status beginning in the 2015-16 influenza season.  Quadrivalent influenza vaccine will be available in the following formulations:

Manufacturer		Brand		Age Range			Packaging
Sanofi Pasteur	Fluzone®	6 to 35 months		pre-filled syringes
Sanofi Pasteur	Fluzone®	6 months and older		10-dose vial
Sanofi Pasteur	Fluzone®	3 years and older		single dose vials
GlaxoSmithKline	Fluarix	®	3 years and older		pre-filled syringes
MedImmune		Flumist®	2 through 49 years		nasal sprayer

Hepatitis A, Tdap, Varicella Vaccines
Effective April 1, 2015, MDPH is expanding the availability of hepatitis A, Tdap, and varicella vaccines to all children through 18 years of age regardless of insurance status.  This expanded availability will now allow providers to use state-supplied vaccine to provide catch-up immunizations for those children who did not receive hepatitis A, Tdap, or varicella vaccinations at the recommended ages.  As recommended by the Massachusetts Vaccine Purchasing Advisory Committee (MVPAC), brand choice is available for these vaccines:

Vaccine		Manufacturer			Brand
Hepatitis A		GlaxoSmithKline		Havrix®
			Merck & Co.			Vaqta®

Tdap			GlaxoSmithKline		Boostrix®
			Sanofi Pasteur		Adacel®

Varicella		Merck & Co.			Varivax®
ProQuad® (varicella and MMR for children requiring both vaccines)

Insurance Considerations
MDPH is requesting that insurance companies continue to reimburse providers who privately purchased influenza for the 2015-16 influenza season through March 31, 2016.  Some providers have already pre-booked their vaccine doses, and we appreciate your consideration during this transition year.

MDPH is also requesting that insurance companies continue to reimburse providers who privately purchased pediatric hepatitis A, Tdap, and varicella vaccines through September 30, 2015.  This will allow providers to use their remaining inventory of privately-purchased vaccines.

References
State-supplied vaccine availability for all other antigens and populations remains the same.  Please see the attached MDPH Childhood Vaccine Availability Table and Adult Vaccine Availability Table which are also available at: www.state.ma.us/dph/imm under Vaccine Management.

If you have questions regarding this new policy, please contact the Vaccine Management Unit at 617-983-6828.