Some states are retooling existing immunization registries to track future COVID-19 vaccinations, while others are creating new systems or using ones provided by the federal government, according to a Nov. 18 report from Kaiser Family Foundation.
The foundation gathered 47 state plans for COVID-19 vaccine distribution and examined them for preparedness. Here are five key details it reported:
- Twenty-five of the 47 state plans reported having immunization data systems in place that are reliable and comprehensive. Most state plans said these systems would need to be reorganized or augmented in order to track COVID-19 vaccinations.
- Most state plans revealed the state won't have any problems reporting data from its immunization registry to federal agencies. However, at least 15 state plans report that the state's data sharing agreements with federal entities are still being processed.
- Several state plans raised concerns about their ability to meet CDC time requirements when reporting key immunization data elements to federal entities.
- Several state plans said they are limited in the amount of race and ethnicity-specific immunization data they can report.
- Almost all state plans mention that all COVID-19 vaccine adverse events will be recorded through federal reporting systems.