Strengthening Vaccine-Preventable Disease Prevent and Response in Washington through Immunization and Vaccine for Children - The Washington State Department of Health, Office of Immunization (OI) seeks to apply for the Strengthening VPD Prevention & Response CDC-RFA-IP-25-0007 funding opportunity. We expect to serve 1.6M kids and teens under 19, and uninsured adults in Washington state each year of the 5-year project period. The total budget requested is $9,551,399 for component 1, $250K for component 2, and $3M for component 3. OI is committed to promoting immunization to protect the children, teens, and adults from preventable diseases; and collaborating with healthcare providers, government agencies, and community organizations to educate parents on healthy choices and preventive care. We promote healthy choices and work to make Washington free of preventable diseases. Through this funding opportunity, we aim to: • Provide immunization data to help healthcare providers give the right vaccine at the right time. • Conduct clinic-based assessments to improve immunization services and increase rates. • Inform the public and healthcare workers about needed immunizations to prevent disease. • Measure immunization rates, identify factors that contribute to under-immunization, and implement strategies to increase rates. • Support parents, schools, childcare and early learning facilities in meeting immunization requirements. • Respond to vaccine-preventable diseases outbreaks. • Purchase and distribute vaccines to public and private providers for children aged birth through 18 years. Purchase and distribute a limited amount of vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults. • Educate families with children aged birth to 6 years on immunizations, well-child visits, and other health and safety issues through Watch Me Grow mailings. OI will develop and implement our evaluation and performance measurement plan to assess key indicators for the program to strengthen program infrastructure and management, vaccine access, vaccine equity, vaccine confidence, data and evaluation, program support, and vaccination response. We will maintain current and recruit new vaccine program providers, implement quality assurance to ensure compliance with Vaccines for Children (VFC) policies and procedures, and provide timely education and training on VFC procedures along with ACIP recommendations and best practices. We will also develop and deliver trainings, communication materials, and education for health care providers, parents, schools, decision makers, and the public to increase demand for vaccinations, counter mis-information about vaccines, and promote clear immunization information. We will develop data driven processes to identify under vaccinated subgroups, and work with IIS vendor, state IT partners, staff and leadership to maintain and enhance IIS infrastructure and operations to meet user needs. The focus on vaccine preventable disease preparedness will continue with coordination across the agency to implement pandemic readiness activities, including pandemic planning and exercises. Leadership within OI will continue to build organizational capacity, build partnerships among various communities, develop innovative education opportunities, and strive to protect communities in Washington from vaccine preventable disease through vaccination.
