Planning an Influenza Vaccination Clinic

Identify a Clinic Leader and Team

Identify a leader and team to oversee the planning and implementation of the vaccination clinic. You will need to assess staffing capacity and may need to consider using temporary staff, such as volunteers, to perform administrative tasks if staffing is limited. Some practices have utilized high school students in need of community service hours to handle basic administrative tasks.

Plan Your Clinic and Workflow

After your team has been identified, plan your clinic and workflow. Take the following into consideration:

• How many patients do you anticipate?
• Will your clinic be after hours or on a weekend?
• How many staff will you need? Will staff need any additional training?
• Will the clinic be indoor or outdoor? Determine where the practice will have the needed space to vaccinate your patient population. Refer to CDC’s page on Considerations for Planning Curbside/Drive-Through Vaccination Clinics for more information on planning for an outdoor clinic. Consider the weather and have a contingency plan in place for an outdoor clinic.
• Will the clinic co-administer other vaccines (ie, routine childhood immunization and COVID-19)? If your practice will be co-administering, consider assigning different staff to the preparation and administration of each vaccine to reduce any errors.
• Will the practice provide vaccination at the clinic for adult family members of the patient? Refer to the Immunizing Parents and Other Close Family Contacts in the Pediatric Office Setting technical report for more information.
• How will vaccines be prepared? Will doses be drawn up in advance?
• What are the storage requirements for the vaccines that will be administered and how will you maintain required storage and/or keep track of expiration times? Refer to the vaccine storage and handling section below for more information.
• How many stations will the clinic need for efficient vaccine administration?
• Do you need to purchase any special equipment or supplies?

Train Staff

Prior to administering vaccines, it is important for all staff to be trained to promote vaccination and communicate vaccine benefits to patients and families. This includes administrative and clinical staff who interact directly with patients and families. Consider developing a script or talking points for the front desk and scheduling staff to use when speaking with patients and families.

Additionally, it may be helpful to review the basics of vaccine administration, information about the various vaccine products that will be administered during your vaccination clinic (including dosage/volume, age indications, storage and handling requirements, etc), infection prevention and control recommendations, etc.

Training resources:

• AAP resources on Communicating with Families and Promoting Vaccine Confidence.
• AAP Red Book resource on Managing Injection Pain to help patients reduce pain and anxiety about getting vaccinated.
• AAP Red Book recommendations for patient care before, during and after Vaccine Administration.
• Annual influenza policy statement and technical report from the AAP.
• AAP Pediatric COVID-19 Dosing Quick Reference Guide.
• CDC Project Firstline Fact Sheet on “How Do I Safely Use a Multi-Dose Vaccine Vial?”

Learn more about staff training on the CDC website.

Prepare the Clinic Space

Consider the flow of patients and available space to conduct an intake and administer the vaccine. If co-administration of COVID-19 vaccine will also take place, consider implementing processes such as color coding, having additional staff so one person can administer flu vaccine and a different person can administer COVID-19 vaccine, etc, to minimize the likelihood of errors. Map out a process that will provide an efficient workflow at the practice.

• Designate areas for patient check-in/intake, vaccine preparation and vaccine administration. If co-administering COVID-19 vaccine, also identify a place where patients/families can wait for 15-30 minutes.
• Have the clinic flow in one direction to avoid any congestion, with a separate entrance and exit if possible.
• Post signs to show the direction of the clinic.
• Make special accommodation for children and youth with special health care needs. Identify patients who will need special accommodations and establish a plan for the specific patient and their needs before they arrive.
  
  • Encourage families to bring comfort items to the vaccine appointment.
  • Consider dedicating certain spaces as low sensory environments for children with a variety of diagnoses who may benefit. Specific clinic spaces, dates and times can be set aside for those with special sensory needs.

Review your practice’s general liability policy to ensure that all the physical spaces you will be using are covered by the policy. Your policy may already cover patients and their families in the hallways and office spaces.

Obtain Necessary Supplies

• Check that there is a sufficient supply of vaccines for the vaccination clinic.
• Stock practice with supplies to administer vaccines as well as to handle any medical emergencies. Refer to CDC’s Vaccination Clinic Supply Checklist for a complete list.
• Consider having activities (eg, coloring pages) and/or stickers or other individual age-appropriate give aways to hand out to children during the clinic.
• Assign a staff member to regularly check and replenish supplies.

Store and Handle Vaccines Appropriately

Ensure vaccines are stored and handled properly, maintaining cold chain throughout the day. Consider how long vaccines can remain at room temperature and how to track expiration times. It is important that flu vaccines are NOT exposed to freezing temperatures, as this may render the vaccine ineffective.

If a clinic will be held outside, total time using off-site vaccine storage should be limited to a maximum of 8 hours, although consideration should be given to transporting needed vaccines every 1-2 hours from your practice refrigerator. The preferred option for vaccine storage is a portable vaccine refrigerator with a temperature monitoring device.

Additional considerations:

• Any temperature reading outside the recommended ranges in the manufacturers’ package insert is a temperature excursion and requires immediate attention.
• Rotate vaccine stock and check for expired doses regularly. Arrange vaccine stock so that doses with the earliest expiration times are placed in front of those with later expiration times.

Vaccines should be handled and prepared in a designated area. Before preparing the vaccine for administration, check expiration dates/times and confirm that the correct vaccine has been selected.

Refer to the AAP Vaccine Storage and Handling for additional guidance.

More information can be found on CDC’s Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit and Vaccine Storage and Handling Resources.

Set Up the Clinic Schedule

When scheduling clinic hours and days:

• Identify days and times that are patient-friendly – day and evening hours outside of the work and school day and, if possible, weekend hours.
• Determine the number of patients you can reasonably vaccinate, considering the timing between patients, available staff and number of available doses.
• Identify a scheduling/registration process for patients (eg, online, in-person or phone); consider using a scheduling software.
• Establish a plan to either accommodate potential walk-ins or schedule them for another day.

Identify Patients Who Need to Be Vaccinated

• Run a report from your electronic health record (EHR), practice management system (PMS), and/or immunization information system (IIS) to identify patients who need to be vaccinated for influenza.
  
  • Prioritize patients with an asthma diagnosis, diabetes diagnosis and other chronic conditions or illnesses that increase their risk of serious influenza illness.
  • Identify how many patients will need two doses and aim to have them fully vaccinated by the end of October.
• Identify patients who have not received all recommended vaccines and consider whether your vaccination clinic will co-administer COVID-19 vaccines or other routine vaccines. If your practice opts not to co-administer other vaccines during the vaccination clinic, ensure there are processes in place to schedule these patients for a separate visit.

Schedule Clinic Appointments

• Schedule patients after establishing clinic hours and let them know what pre-visit forms/information will need to be completed prior to the appointment (eg, insurance verification, consent forms, etc).
• Consider providing information about how the clinic will flow and other age-appropriate tips for parents to consider in preparing their child or comforting them post-vaccination.
• If you will be co-administering COVID-19 vaccine during your vaccination clinic, share information about the availability of COVID-19 vaccine as well.

Promote Getting Vaccinated and the Availability of Influenza Vaccine Appointments

• Remind your entire team to promote the importance of getting vaccinated to all patients and families before the season starts. Engage the entire team in promotional efforts from the administrative to the clinical staff. Specifically request that front desk and scheduling staff examine immunization records when a patient/family calls to identify those who have not received all recommended immunizations and encourage these patients/families to schedule.
• Promote your vaccination clinic online (eg, patient portal messaging and email, practice website, social media, blog), through an on-hold phone message, text messages, signage around the practice and press release.
• Display vaccination clinic poster at check-in, in waiting areas and in the exam rooms.
• Provide families with educational handouts and resources about the importance and benefits of the influenza vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine, as well as other routine childhood immunizations.
• Send out vaccine reminders to your patient population for influenza vaccine, routine childhood immunization and COVID-19 vaccine.
• Evaluate EHR data to identify children who have not received all recommended vaccines and notify families of the need to schedule an appointment to catch up.
• Promote influenza vaccination to your patient population throughout the season with the goal of vaccinating all eligible patients.
• Use the resources in the Flu toolkit to promote influenza vaccine and your vaccination clinic.