Pediatricians Overwhelmingly Support Vaccines for Children Program

In a March 2020 Pediatrics study, most pediatricians said the benefits of participating in a federally funded program that provides free vaccines for children whose families can’t afford them strongly outweigh its perceived burdens. The study, “Pediatricians’ Experiences with and Perceptions of the Vaccines for Children Program” (published online Feb. 21), found 86% of pediatricians reported currently participating in Vaccines for Children (VFC). Among those, 85% reported never having considered stopping; 10% considered it, but not seriously; and 5% did seriously consider it because of administrative, financial and logistical challenges. VFC program providers may need to purchase and maintain storage equipment that conforms to program requirements. For example, since they must keep VFC vaccines separate from private vaccine stock. Also, while providers can charge an administration fee to their state’s Medicaid program for each VFC vaccine administered to a Medicaid-enrolled patient, pediatricians say reimbursement is often inadequate to cover costs. In addition, there have been reported shortages of routine childhood vaccines and delays in delivery of the influenza vaccine to providers in the past. Authors of the study said pediatrician participation is critical to the success of VFC, which supplies more than half of all vaccines for children in the United States. They urge continued efforts to address perceived challenges to program participation. The survey used in the study was developed in collaboration with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which funded the research, and with input from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

###

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.