Vaccine Returns and Disposal
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) work together to control infectious diseases through the production and distribution of vaccines. These agencies also work together to distribute vaccines to healthcare facilities. But if there is surplus vaccine, or a healthcare facility has doses of an expired vaccine, a vaccine return may be required.
State health departments are responsible for controlling the number of vaccine doses made available to hospitals, health clinics and healthcare providers in their states. When a particular healthcare provider needs more doses of a vaccine, the health department works to increase their supply. But when there are expired or surplus vaccine doses on hand, and there is not a standardized government return process in place, it is up to the state health departments to conduct a vaccine return program.
Vaccine returns can be necessary due to product recalls, expired products in the marketplace or as is the case with surplus H1N1 vaccine, simply because there are more doses of the vaccine than are required.
During a vaccine return, the state agency should notify healthcare facilities across the state about the return process for expired or surplus vaccinations. It is also helpful to offer a vaccine return hotline for healthcare professionals to call if they have questions about the return process. After notification, the local health departments will need to collect, process and store the surplus vaccine in a controlled environment until it can be disposed of safely.
A vaccine return can be complicated and time consuming. But there are resources state agencies can use to simplify the process. Stericycle ExpertRECALL has an EZ Return Program that can serve as a single source solution for compliant vaccine return, processing, and destruction of expired or surplus doses. The program allows the state health department to provide healthcare facilities with a seamless vaccine return service, call center services, product tracking capabilities, and compliant product destruction.
