Message to OAFP Members from ODH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff

Below is an important message from Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Chief Medical Officer and Ohio Academy of Family Physicians member Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA, encouraging primary care physician practice sites to enroll as COVID-10 vaccination providers for phase 1B priority populations and beyond.

“Ohio is preparing to begin offering the COVID-19 vaccine to priority populations in vaccination Phase 1B, including individuals age 65+ and those with severe congenital, developmental, or early-onset medical disorders that make them particularly vulnerable for severe illness and death from this disease.

“ODH is asking primary care physician practice sites that can help vaccinate these priority populations – and those in future vaccination phases – to enroll in Ohio’s COVID-19 Vaccination Providers Enrollment Program as soon as possible. While the supply of COVID-19 vaccines remains limited, vaccine allocation priority will be given to practices that have the patient base and throughput capacity to schedule and vaccinate at least 100 eligible patients over the course of a seven-day period. This is to ensure that the most individuals are vaccinated in the shortest length of time possible with limited vaccine, and to adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) preference for shipping vaccine in no smaller allotments than 100 doses. Once vaccine shipments are opened, the clock begins to wind down on the vaccine’s viability, and it must be administered as quickly as possible.

“Even if your practice does not have this throughput capacity, please still consider enrolling as a vaccination provider for the time when vaccines are more readily available and can be distributed to more providers. As more vaccine becomes available, including from additional manufacturers, the shipment of smaller vaccine allotments will be possible.

“Requirements for becoming a COVID-19 vaccination provider and information about how to enroll are available on the ODH Ohio COVID-19 Provider Enrollment webpage. In particular, to be an approved COVID-19 vaccine provider, your practice must be able and willing to submit information required by ODH and the CDC to Ohio’s immunization registry, ImpactSIIS. Only one individual needs to complete the enrollment process per primary care office site/location and can be the office manager or another designated staff member. All providers at the practice site who are legally authorized to administer vaccines can administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

“If you have any questions about enrolling as a COVID-19 vaccination provider, please call the ODH Provider Call Center between 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, at 1.844.9ODHVAX (1.844.963.4829) or email COVIDVACCINE@odh.ohio.gov.”