From our Weitzman ECHO on COVID-19 series, live on April 7 2021

1. Who Wants To Be A Vaccinator?
Using Volunteers, Students, and Other Healthcare
Professionals in Vaccinator Roles
April 7, 2021

2. Continuing Education Credits
In support of improving patient care, Community Health Center,
Inc./Weitzman Institute is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council
for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for
Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing
Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
This designation confers simultaneous continuing education
accreditation across nine national accrediting bodies.
This series is intended for physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses,
physician assistants, psychologists, clinical social workers, dentists,
pharmacists, and dietitians.
Please complete the survey – linked in the chat, and emailed to all
attendees – to request your continuing education credit for live viewing.
A comprehensive certificate will be sent out at the end of the series.

3. This week’s COVID-19 ECHO session
is a collaboration with
This resource is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant
number U30CS29049 entitled "Training and Technical Assistance National Cooperative Agreements (NCAs)" for grant amount $2,045,000 with 0% financed with
non-governmental funds. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor
should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

4. Disclosure
• With respect to the following presentation, there has been no relevant
(direct or indirect) financial relationship between the parties listed above
(or spouse/partner) and any for-profit company in the past 12 months
which would be considered a conflict of interest.
• The views expressed in this presentation are those of the presenter and
may not reflect official policy of Community Health Center, Inc. and its
Weitzman Institute.
• We are obligated to disclose any products which are off-label, unlabeled,
experimental, and/or under investigation (not FDA approved) and any
limitations on the information hat I present, such as data that are
preliminary or that represent ongoing research, interim analyses, and/or
unsupported opinion.

5. COVID-19 Update in the United States
April 7, 2021
Stephen Scholand, MD
Infectious Disease Specialist, Midstate Medical Center
www.scripps.org

6. 30,828,216 cases on 4/6/21 with 556,185 deaths
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map
COVID-19 in the United States

7. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html
Sigh…

8. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video

9. How Many ‘Jet Liners’? A320 seats 182 passengers

10. Pressure on Hospital Systems
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

11. The Danger of Variants
• Variants of Interest
B.1.525, B.1.526, P.2
• Variants of Concern
B.117, B1.351, P.1
B.1.427 and B.1.429 (first detected in California)
• Variants of High Consequence
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/variant-surveillance/variant-info.html#Interest

12. www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/transmission/variant-cases.html

13. COVID-19 Vaccinations Across the Nation
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations

14. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
Percent of People Fully Vaccinated by State/Territory

15. Trusted Resources
• Nuvance Health (2500+ articles reviewed):
https://spark.adobe.com/page/LZLJQ73vLf2Pb/
• CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
https://emergency.cdc.gov/coca/calls/2021/
• WHO:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
• Johns Hopkins:
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
• Others:
https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus
https://covidactnow.org/

16. Who Wants To Be A Vaccinator?
Using Volunteers, Students, and Other
Healthcare Professionals in Vaccinator Roles
Margaret Flinter, PhD, APRN
Senior Vice President and Clinical Director
Community Health Center, Inc.
Amy Taylor
Vice President, Western Region
Community Health Center, Inc.

17. Know Your State: Who Can Be A Vaccinator?
• Already authorized:
– Currently licensed physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, advanced
practitioner registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and pharmacists
– Out-of-State licensed practitioners, per Executive Order No. 9S
– Physicians, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, Registered Nurses, or Practical Nurses
with inactive, expired, or lapsed licenses within the past five years, per federal PREP Act
amendment 5
• Additional authorizations from the CT Commissioner’s Order of December
7, 2020 (require additional training):
– Podiatrists
– Dentists and Dental Hygienists, provided they have training to administer dental
anesthesia
– Veterinarians
– Advanced EMTs and EMTS, provided they have completed DPH intramuscular
epinephrine administration training
– Paramedics
https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Practitioner-Licensing--Investigations/PLIS/Approved-COVID-19-Vaccination-Training-Programs

18. CHC Vaccinators By The Numbers
Registered
Nurse
Dentist
Dental
Hygienist
Paramedic
National
Guard
Medic
EMT
Nurse
Practitioner
Pharmacist
Physician
Physician
Assistant
Veterinarian
Licensed
Practical
Nurse
• 456 Full and Part-time Vaccinators Trained
– 177 Staff Vaccinators
– 34 Volunteer Vaccinators
– 124 Travel Nurses
– 59 National Guard Medics
– 62 Health Professions Training Students
• Additional Community Partnerships
– Nuvance Health
– LACE

19. Meet CHC’s Vaccinators

20. Nuvance Health
• Partnership originally established through COVID-19 testing
• Combining resources between Nuvance and CHC, Inc. allowed the
creation of a much larger operation
• Creating the partnership:
– Challenge to get state approval
– Tremendous support from Health Department and Mayor’s Office
• First doses provided at hospital; second dose patients and vaccinators
transitioned to mass vaccination clinic
• 6-8 Nuvance vaccinators per day
• Leadership unifies the shared team, communicates regularly, and assists
in providing an exceptional patient experience

21. Volunteer Vaccinators
To be a CHC Volunteer Vaccinator:
1. Commit to being available at least 1 day per week, or 2 half-days per week
2. Provide the following documentation:
– Current resume
– Current license or certification confirming eligibility to administer
COVID vaccine
– Proof of completion of Hep B vaccine series or evidence of immunity
– Completion certificate for CDC online training courses
– Consent for CHC to conduct a background check and verification of
licensure or certification
https://www.chc1.com/vaccinator/

22. Living Amidst a COVID Environment (LACE)
• Closely affiliated with NAACP
• Provides:
– Support for testing
– Educational awareness
– Community advocacy
– Volunteer vaccinators
• Vaccinators support at community-based events, churches, local
community gathering areas
• Importance of listening to your partners and aligning missions

23. Health Professions Training
• Build upon existing academic affiliations
and create new ones
– Review and amend academic affiliations as
necessary
– Contact other schools, colleges and universities to
establish new affiliations
– Remotely: complete required onboarding process
and online trainings
– On-Site: attend short orientation at first day on-site

24. Health Professions Training
• Considerations
– Limited time in academic calendar for consistent scheduling
– Amount of on-site space available to accommodate students
– Need for faculty supervision (4:1 ratio)
– Additional PPE needed for student vaccinators and faculty
– During the pandemic, these in-person clinical experiences are highly
valued by the students

25. Vaccinator Training Objectives
• Describe the role of a vaccinator at CHC’s Mass Vaccination Clinics, along with other vital
roles as a part of the team-based approach
• Understand CDC Hand Hygiene Guidelines, including CHC’s glove re-use and other
applicable infection control policies
• Understand all processes involved with proper vaccine storage and handling (Moderna or
Pfizer, depending on which is used at the applicable Mass Vaccination site)
• Demonstrate best practice for intramuscular vaccine delivery for the COVID-19 vaccine,
along with appropriate needle choice, how to handle exceptions and other important
topics
• Describe all education required to be given to patients before and at the time of
vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine
• Understand what to do in the case of a Needle Stick Injury (or Blood Borne Pathogen
exposure)

26. Training Vaccinators

28. Thank You!
To learn more about The Path Forward series
WeitzmanLearning.org/the-path-forward
To view previous COVID-19 sessions:
WeitzmanLearning.org/coronavirus