Background
The Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program helps families by providing vaccines at no cost to providers who serve eligible children from birth through 18 years of age. The VFC Program has earned high marks from California doctors for making it easy to provide high-quality care to their patients.
The VFC Program is administered at the national level by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The program was established by an act of Congress in 1993.
The California VFC Program is administered by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Immunization Branch and has enrolled more than 4,000 public and private provider sites since its inception in 1995.
For Providers: How the Program Works
CDC contracts with vaccine manufacturers to buy vaccines at reduced rates. Enrolled providers order federally funded vaccines through their state VFC Program and receive routine vaccines (including influenza) at no cost.
What are the provider benefits?
- reduced up-front provider costs through federally supplied vaccines
- comprehensive coverage of all vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
- reintegration of immunization and primary care to retain children who might otherwise be referred elsewhere
- enhanced provider services to support populations receiving Medi-Cal-funded preventive care
How do I get vaccines?
California providers complete these steps to enroll. Once the application is approved, one of our Field Representatives will visit your practice, review the program requirements with you, and ensure that key practice staff are trained and the practice or clinic is certified to store and manage VFC vaccines. Vaccines are ordered online and ship by McKesson Specialty or Merck–except for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, which ship directly from the manufacturer.
Which vaccines are covered?
VFC providers can order most routine childhood vaccines that protect against serious diseases. New vaccines, including combination vaccines approved by the FDA and recommended by the ACIP, are also supplied to enrolled providers through the VFC Program.
What children are eligible?
The VFC Program is an entitlement program. Children must meet federal VFC eligibility criteria to receive public vaccines to ensure vaccines are going to the intended populations. Children from birth through 18 years of age must meet at least one of these criteria at each immunization visit to be eligible to receive VFC-supplied vaccines:
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Criterion
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Description
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Medicaid eligible (or enrolled)
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Has Medi-Cal as primary or secondary coverage
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American Indian (AI) or Alaska Native (AN)
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As defined by the Indian Health Care Improvement Act
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Uninsured
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No health insurance coverage
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Underinsured
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Health insurance doesn’t cover vaccines, doesn’t cover all ACIP-recommended vaccines, or covers vaccines but with a fixed dollar limit (or cap); underinsured patients are only eligible to receive VFC vaccines at FQHC or RHC facilities.
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Who can be a VFC provider?
Any provider who has a current California license with prescription-writing privileges may enroll. Candidates for enrollment are typically licensed as a
- Medical Doctor (MD),
- Doctor of Osteopathy (DO),
- Nurse Practitioner (NP),
- Physician Assistant (PA),
- Pharmacist, or a
- Certified Nurse Midwife with prescription-writing privileges in the state of California.
VFC Program Requirements
VFC providers agree to order and provide all age-appropriate ACIP-recommended vaccines to VFC-eligible patient populations. In exchange for federally funded vaccines, enrolled providers agree to partner with the VFC Program to ensure that program requirements are met in order to protect the integrity of the program as well as the provider’s vaccines and patients.
Enrollment in Medi-Cal is not required. Providers are not required to accept children solely because the children are eligible for the VFC Program.
VFC Program requirements are summarized in the annual Program Participation Requirements at a Glance and defined in the VFC Provider Agreement (federal agreement) and California VFC Program Provider Agreement Addendum.
Providers recertify each year and are visited periodically by Field Representatives who conduct scheduled compliance visits and unannounced storage & handling visits to assess the provider’s compliance with CDC’s standards as well as other VFC Program requirements.
What is Medi-Cal's relationship with VFC?
Most children eligible for VFC-supplied vaccines are enrolled in each state’s Medicaid plan, which is implemented in California as Medi-Cal. Enrollment in Medi-Cal is not required for VFC enrollment; however, providers who wish to enroll in either program must enroll in the VFC Program first.
Additional resources: