The Florida Vaccines for Children Program

The Florida Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program is federally administered and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases to provide vaccines to children at no cost to the parent/guardian. The VFC Program purchases the vaccines under contract with the Department of Health, Bureau of Immunization and supplies them to enrolled VFC providers at no cost. Enrolled VFC providers are able to order vaccine through their state VFC Program and receive routine vaccines at no cost. This allows providers to make routine immunizations available to eligible children without high out-of-pocket costs.

The Florida VFC Program began in 1994, and has distributed over $100 million worth of vaccines annually to private physicians, hospitals, and other public and private healthcare providers throughout the state. We encourage all physicians who immunize children or adolescents to enroll in the VFC Program.

The VFC Program represents an unprecedented approach to improving vaccine availability nationwide by making federally purchased vaccine available to both public and private immunization providers. The program has become a success in raising immunization coverage rates among high-risk children and reducing disparities in access to healthcare. The VFC Program has also helped reduce physician referrals for immunizations to public clinics.

Who can participate in Florida’s VFC Program?

The VFC statute follows state law in qualifying practitioners as VFC providers. The term “authorized for administration of pediatric vaccines” used in Section 1928(c)(1) (A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396s (c)(1)(A)) is intended to mean authorized to prescribe vaccines. Therefore, any Florida-licensed medical doctor (M.D.), Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.), Nurse Practitioner (A.R.N.P.), Physician Assistant (P.A.), or healthcare organization serving VFC-eligible children can become a VFC provider.

The VFC Program provides services to Medicaid-eligible children and VFC-eligible children who are not otherwise eligible for Medicaid. The VFC Program enrolls providers, including Medicaid and non-Medicaid providers, who provide immunizations to federally-vaccine-eligible or state-vaccine-eligible children.

What are the VFC Program participation guidelines?

Physician participation guidelines are simple. Providers continue to vaccinate VFC-eligible children following normal practice guidelines. Providers do not have to accept a child into the practice based solely on the child’s VFC eligibility. Participation guidelines include:

• Screening each child’s eligibility.
• Maintaining and retaining a record of each child screened.
• Complying with the recommended immunization schedule.
• Following the Standards of Pediatric Immunization Practices.
• Providing VFC vaccines to children at no cost to the parent/guardian. (Providers may not deny administration of a federally purchased vaccine to an established patient because the child’s parent/guardian/individual of record is unable to pay the administration fee.)
• Providing current Vaccine Information Statements (VIS) to the child’s parent/guardian.
• Providing access to records as requested by the Florida Department of Health.
• Completing a vaccine report form and reporting the number of vaccine doses administered, lost and/or wasted, and current vaccine inventory on hand within the designated reporting schedule.
• Completing a yearly recertification application.
• Returning expired and unserviceable vaccines to the VFC Program vaccine distributor for accountability purposes and excise tax credit.

The Florida VFC Program provides training and support to VFC participants. Thank you for making VFC vaccines available to children in your medical home!

Vaccines Available Through the VFC Program

The following vaccines are available through Florida’s VFC Program:

• Diphtheria-Tetanus-Acellular Pertussis (DTaP)
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (HIB)
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
• Influenza
• Meningococcal Conjugate (MCV4)
• Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR)
• Pneumococcal Conjugate (PCV7)
• Polio (IPV)
• Rotavirus
• Tetanus-Diphtheria (Td)
• Tetanus-Diphtheria-Acellular Pertussis (Tdap)
• Varicella and Measles-Mumps-Rubella-Varicella (MMRV —supplied by Merck & Co, Inc.)
• Combination Vaccines (Pediarix®, Comvax®, Pentacel®, Kinrix®, and ProQuad® )

The following vaccines are available by request for high-risk areas only.

• Diphtheria and Tetanus (DT-Pediatric)
• Pneumococcal Polysaccharide (PPV23)

Contact a VFC representative at 1 (800) 483-2543 for further information. As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves new vaccines or additional vaccine combinations and the ACIP recommends them, the VFC Program includes them in the program.

What are the benefits of the VFC Program?

The provider can offer their patients comprehensive care when they enroll in the VFC Program because they will be able to:

• Reduce vaccine cost as a barrier to vaccinating VFC-eligible children at the right time with the right vaccine.
• Provide patients with necessary vaccines, regardless of their parents’ financial status.
• Eliminate the need to refer children to public clinics for vaccinations and risk loss of continuity of care.
• Continue or maintain their present system of purchasing vaccines for private-paying patients.  Participation in the VFC Program does not impact private vaccine purchase.