• Be a licensed Medical Doctor (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) in the State of New Jersey authorized to administer vaccines to children aged 18 years and younger for VFC.
• Be willing and able to follow all VFC program requirements, policies, and procedures, such as participation in site visits and educational opportunities.  
• Have the capacity to order, receive, manage, store, and monitor temperatures of federally funded vaccines in accordance with CDC, NJDOH, and vaccine manufacturer guidelines.  
• Be open at least four consecutive hours on a day other than Monday to receive vaccine shipments.  
• Ensure that all healthcare providers (PA, NP, MD, and DO) in the enrolled practice, and corresponding professional license numbers, are listed on the provider profile. 

Being a VFC provider is a sound investment in your practice and patients.  It reduces your up-front costs because you will not have to pay to purchase vaccines for VFC-eligible children. Also, you can charge an administrative fee to offset your costs of doing business. Your patients benefit because they won’t have to go somewhere else to get the vaccines they need. 

The VFC program will: 

• Keep your patients in their medical home.
• Reduce your up-front costs.
• Help provide quality care to vulnerable children and adolescents.

Children through 18 years of age who meet at least one of the following criteria are eligible to receive VFC vaccine:

• Medicaid eligible: Children who have health insurance covered by the state Medicaid program. In New Jersey, children enrolled in NJ FamilyCare Plan A are eligible to receive VFC vaccines. Plans B, C, and D are not eligible.

• Uninsured: A child who has no health insurance coverage.

• American Indian or Alaska Native: As defined by the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603).

• Underinsured: A child who has health insurance, but the coverage does not include vaccines; a child whose insurance covers only selected vaccines (VFC-­eligible for non-covered vaccines only); a child whose insurance has a fixed dollar limit or cap for vaccines (VFC-eligible once fixed dollar amount or cap is reached). Underinsured children are only eligible to receive VFC vaccines through a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).

A child’s VFC eligibility must be documented to receive vaccines through the VFC program. Documentation of the screening must take place at the time of each immunization visit. The patient eligibility screening tool below can assist providers in assessing patient eligibility. Patient eligibility screening records should be maintained on file for a minimum of 3 years after service to the patient has been completed. 

The VFC program requires that initial and annual educational training programs be completed by key staff members of each facility. It is the Medical Director’s responsibility to ensure that all staff members who receive deliveries, handle, and/or administer vaccines are trained on the storage and handling policies and procedures at the facility and are fully trained to use the equipment at the provider location. NJDOH offers annual trainings to all enrolled providers to meet these educational requirements. The CDC also offers an interactive, web-based immunization training course titled “You Call the Shots.” For more information on training opportunities, reach out to vfc@doh.nj.gov.

Report clinically significant adverse events that follow vaccination through the Federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Additional information on VAERS is available here.