Purpose
Overview of the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS), an online tool to manage vaccine administration from the time the vaccine arrives to patient administration.
Overview
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), other federal agencies, and state public health departments need real-time or near-real-time data on early mass COVID-19 vaccine administration. Federal response leaders expect dose-level accountability, from the time vaccine leaves the manufacturer until vaccine is administered.
Our current nationwide network of immunization information systems (IISs) cannot consistently provide real-time data, so CDC developed the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS) to meet this need.
VAMS is an easy-to-use, secure, online tool to manage vaccine administration from the time the vaccine arrives at a clinic until it is administered to a recipient. VAMS is free for public health-approved clinics, and can be used on computers, tablets, and other mobile devices. It is not a smartphone app, and no installation or download is required for this web-based platform. VAMS has robust security that is shared with Amazon Web Services, which is certified by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). The guidelines used for VAMS hardware and/or software components are covered in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-53 Revision 4, which addresses 376 Security Controls covering all security concerns to address the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information contained within VAMS.
Timely gathering of vaccination data for analysis is critical in ongoing vaccination efforts. VAMS allows for gathering and analysis of real-time or near-real-time vaccination data in vaccination clinics.
Participation in VAMS is currently limited to jurisdictions, federal agencies, and organizations, that have enrolled in VAMS and to the individuals who live, work, or volunteer in those organizations and jurisdictions. VAMS is also available for use in traditional medical practices that do not have existing IT systems for COVID-19 vaccination clinic management.
VAMS is free for public health-approved clinics, and can be used on computers, tablets, and other mobile devices. It is not a smartphone app, and no installation or download is required for this web-based platform.
If a jurisdiction or federal agency is interested in implementing VAMS please contact your CDC IIS subject matter experts or CDC federal program liaison. For multistate healthcare systems interested in implementing VAMS, please see below for additional contact information.
VAMS Four Modules
- Identify organizations with individuals who need to be vaccinated (e.g., staff at specific hospitals, schools, grocery stores, fire departments) and add those organizations to VAMS.
- Survey their population and add individuals to VAMS based on priority group.
- Identify sites for two types of vaccination clinics:
- Standard and mobile clinics—require recipients to register in VAMS via email.
- Third-party clinics—recipients are registered by the clinic and are not required to have an email account.
- Access aggregate data via reports and dashboards (includes data analysis tools).
- Manage inventory requests from VAMS clinics.
- Set appointments for first doses, second doses, or walk-ins in the jurisdiction’s clinics. Clinics can modify these appointment settings to fit their needs.
- Identify individuals who are eligible to receive the vaccine and upload these individuals one at a time or in a bulk list format.
- Establish clinic schedules, including operating hours, number of treatment stations, and appointment duration.
- Set appointments for first doses, second doses, or walk-ins specific to their clinic (e.g., second dose only clinic).
- Submit inventory requests to jurisdictions.
- Log vaccine administration information for each recipient.
- View a recipient’s medical history and review the prevaccination questionnaire.
- Schedule vaccination appointments.
- Receive the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) fact sheet before their appointment.
- Complete the prevaccination questionnaire.
- Get a reminder to return for a second dose, if required.
- Receive a vaccination certificate.
Select, New, and Future Functionality
Multiple rounds of requirement assessments, demonstrations, and testing with internal and external stakeholders have informed the design of user-friendly screens and customized workflows for each type of user.
| Module | Functionality | Description |
|---|---|---|
| IIS Jurisdiction | Clinic management | Add or deactivate clinics within the jurisdiction. |
| Organization management | Add eligible organizations within the jurisdiction. | |
| View dashboards/reports | View dashboards and download data related to doses administered, appointment management, inventory, and registration. | |
| View vaccine clinic inventory requests | Track inventory requests from clinics to assist with vaccine distribution. | |
| Set aside first-dose, second-dose, and walk-in appointments | Jurisdictions set appointments for first-dose, second-dose, or walk-in appointments in the jurisdiction’s clinics. | |
| Organization | Create organization account | Complete registration and gain access to the Employer/Organization module. |
| Add eligible individuals | Add individuals eligible for vaccination, who will then receive an email to register in VAMS. | |
| Bulk upload rosters of eligible individuals | Bulk upload rosters of eligible individuals using a template. | |
| View roster of eligible individuals | View and edit the employee list. | |
| Access Support | Organization point of contact can view web-based FAQs and submit support requests within VAMS. | |
| Clinic | Clinic administration | Register clinic location, clinic staff, and users. |
| Scheduling | Set up clinic availability with the ability to cancel, modify, and/or change appointments and view vaccine inventory. | |
| Immunization administration | During the appointment, verify recipient information using a QR code, review the prevaccination questionnaire, record vaccine administration, and generate vaccination certificate. | |
| Inventory management | Order and update vaccine dose inventory at the clinic using a 2D barcode scanner. | |
| Set aside first-dose, second-dose, and walk-in appointments | Set aside times for first-dose, second-dose, or walk-in appointments specific to their clinic (e.g., second dose only clinic). | |
| Support | Access web-based FAQs and submit requests for assistance within VAMS. | |
| Vaccine Recipient | Register account | Register account online or using a mobile device. |
| Search for clinics/scheduling | Search for and schedule appointments with clinics based on ZIP code, address, and geolocation, as well as date and time, with the option to reschedule or cancel appointments. | |
| Notifications (email/SMS) | Before the appointment, receive automated system notifications for confirmations and cancellations, links to documents (such as the EUA fact sheet) for the day of vaccination, and reminder to complete the prevaccination questionnaire. | |
| Day of vaccination/medical history | During the appointment, review and update medical history and provide vaccination consent. | |
| Certificate of vaccination | After the appointment, view and download a certificate of vaccination. |
VAMS has released several new features to support the evolving needs of the COVID-19 vaccine response, including streamlined workflows, enhanced clinical management, more configurable scheduling, and expanded clinic reports and jurisdiction dashboards and analytics.
| Portal | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | January 2021 releases
|
| Clinic: All clinic types | December 2020 releases
January 2021 releases
|
| Clinic: Standard clinics | December 2020 release
January 2021 releases
|
| Clinic: Third-party clinics | January 2021 releases
|
| Organization | December 2020 release
January 2021 release
|
| Recipient | January 2021 releases
|
| General | December 2020 release
January 2021 releases
|
Data Sharing
Currently, VAMS integrates with and shares near-real-time data with CDC’s COVID-19 Data Clearinghouse. VAMS plans to integrate with IISs through the Immunization (IZ) Gateway. Healthcare providers will be able to query data for electronic health records from the IIS. Data access will be protected and secure, with each IIS jurisdiction establishing who has access to its data.
Contact Information for Interested Jurisdictions, Federal Agencies, or Other Organizations
Please contact your CDC IIS subject matter experts, CDC federal program liaison, or iisinfo@cdc.gov.