The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program has provided life-saving vaccines to children in Arizona for the past three decades. The VFC program provides vaccination for children who might not otherwise get vaccinated because of financial barriers. The program is grounded in essential partnerships with private healthcare providers, tribal communities, community health centers, and local public health agencies that vaccinate children in their local communities. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) administers the program statewide with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in alignment with their requirements. 

Unfortunately, in the past few years, we’ve seen a decline in the number of healthcare providers participating in the program. While this is a trend nationwide, feedback from providers and a recent assessment of the program pointed to regulatory challenges in implementing the program. In response, ADHS committed to working with providers to hear their concerns and identify improvements for the program. In January, we initiated a workgroup of providers and partners for a series of special sessions to talk through how to make the program less burdensome for providers and ultimately more accessible for families.

Based on the valuable insights of the workgroup, the ADHS Bureau of Immunization Services is excited to release the updated Arizona VFC Program Operations Guide. Policy changes to the guide include:

  • Elimination of the penalties for unused vaccine doses (known as “restitution” or dose for dose replacement)
  • Reducing the requirement for a provider to be open at least 4 days-a-week to 4 consecutive hours on a given day (other than a Monday)
  • Clearer guidance on the ability to operate mobile clinics
  • Reducing the requirement to record temperature readings from twice per day to once per day 
  • Clarifying that records can be stored electronically and/or off-site  

The Arizona VFC Program Operations Guide and a summary of the changes can be found on the Arizona VFC Home Page in the announcement box or on the VFC Operations Guide and Resources page. 

In addition to the policy changes outlined above, other improvements to the VFC program include a new onboarding process to better assist new vaccine providers in successfully implementing the program. We will also engage in continuous dialogue with providers and stakeholders by reinstating the annual survey of providers and will continue the VFC Policy Workgroup to identify areas of improvement in the future. 

The next steps will be to develop an outreach plan to encourage more providers to become VFC providers. If you are a healthcare provider not currently participating in the program, we invite you to join us on this great mission of increasing childhood vaccination rates and protecting the public from devastating vaccine-preventable diseases. We are grateful to the partners who participated in the workgroup and the 655 providers who serve Arizona’s children.