Washington State DOH Immunization Program

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• Stand-alone refrigerators and freezers or pharmaceutical grade units are required for providers enrolling in the Program for the first time. • Household combination units are no longer allowed for vaccine storage for providers enrolling in the Program for the first time. • Frozen vaccine should not be stored in the freezer component of a combination storage unit. • Pharmaceutical or medical grade refrigerators and freezers are recommended. • All providers should move to stand-alone or pharmacy grade units when replacing or repairing an existing household combination units. Refrigerators or freezers used for vaccine storage must comply with the following requirements: • Maintain required vaccine storage temperatures year-round • Hold the year's largest inventory without overcrowding • Store only vaccines and medical equipment o Do not store food and beverages in a vaccine storage unit. Vaccine Storage Practices Rotate vaccine stock by placing vaccines with shorter expiration dates in front of those with longer expiration dates; check for short -dated vaccine every week. Notify the Local Health Jurisdiction (LHJ) of any vaccine doses that will expire before they can be administered, preferably three months before the expiration date. Only with the approval and direct guidance of the LHJ and only if the cold chain can be ensured, redistribute short -dated vaccines to high-volume providers who are able to administer it before it expires. Ensure that the storage and handling of vaccine is in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications and the guidelines as outlined in the CDC Vaccine Storage and Handling Guidelines. Temperature Monitorinq Have a working thermometer certified in accordance with International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) standards or by ISO -17025 standards. Providers enrolling in the Program for the first time are required to use either a digital data logger or a continuous temperature monitoring system with a detachable probe in a bottle filled with a thermal buffer. By 2018, all providers must use either a digital data logger or continuous temperature monitoring system with a detachable probe in a bottle filled with a thermal buffer. Providers should replace thermometers not meeting these specifications when existing thermometers are due for recalibration or replacement. The thermometers should have the following features: • Alarm for out -of -range temperatures • Current temperature, as well as minimum and maximum temperatures • Reset feature • Low battery indicator • Accuracy of +/- 1 ° F (0.5° C) • Memory storage of at least 4000 readings • Device will not rewrite over old data and stops recording when memory is full • User programmable logging interval (or reading rate) DOH 348-022 revised for 2016 If you have a disability and need this document in a different format, please call 1-800- 525-0127 (TDD/TTY 1-800-833-6388).