Government To Send Ancillary Supplies For COVID-19 Vaccinations

Alexandria, VA -- The Department of Health and Human Services plans to include ancillary supplies such as needles, syringes, alcohol prep pads and certain personal protective equipment (PPE) with COVID-19 vaccine shipments.

“HIDA applauds the government’s recent announcement that ancillary supplies will be included with COVID-19 vaccine shipments,” said Health Industry Distributors Association President & CEO Matthew J. Rowan. “With 75% of seasonal flu vaccines currently delivered to providers in pre-filled syringes, this should reduce pressure on key supplies such as needles and syringes. We recommend that our members get this information about ancillary supplies to their customers so they can factor it into their ordering decisions.”

Ancillary kits will contain enough supplies to administer 100 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Each kit will be automatically ordered in amounts to match vaccine orders.

A kit will include:

• Needles, 105 per kit (various sizes for the population served by the ordering vaccination provider)
• Syringes, 105 per kit
• Alcohol prep pads, 210 per kit
• 4 surgical masks and 2 face shields for vaccinators per kit
• COVID-19 vaccination record cards for vaccine recipients, 100 per kit
• For COVID-19 vaccines that require reconstitution with diluent or mixing adjuvant at the point of administration, these ancillary supply kits will include additional necessary syringes, needles, and other supplies for this purpose.
• Ancillary supply kits and diluent (if required) will ship separately from the vaccine due to different cold chain requirements, but shipment will be timed to arrive with or before the vaccine.

Ancillary kits will not contain sharps containers, gloves, bandages, or gowns.

For more details, see page 25 of the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Interim Playbook, and the Operation Warp Speed Strategy for Distributing a COVID-19 Vaccine strategic distribution overview.

About HIDA

The Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) represents the country’s medical product distributors – the nation’s essential link between manufacturers and patient caregivers. HIDA members offer critical services increasing the efficiency of U.S. healthcare providers, including hospitals, nursing homes, laboratories, home care, and physician practices. For more information, visit HIDA.org, or the event at HIDAStreamlining.org

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