A component of former Governor Hunt's "Smart Start Initiative" is providing immunizations to all children in North Carolina through the state-implemented Universal Childhood Vaccine Distribution Program (UCVDP). The federal government has complemented the state program with an additional vaccine supply program called the Vaccines for Children program.

The purpose of these programs is to distribute (at no charge) all of the vaccines required by North Carolina law to all health care providers who administer childhood immunizations. The health care providers may then administer - at no charge for the vaccine itself - these childhood vaccines to their patients. Currently, private physicians may charge vaccine administration fees at no more than the rates established by the State's Medicaid Program.

The state program has been designed to be as consumer-friendly as possible, and many physicians have said that using this system is easy and trouble-free. The paperwork has been kept to a minimum, and vaccine ordering is simple. Vaccine ordering can be done by using a toll-free telephone number or fax number or through the NC Immunization Registry.

Over 90 percent of providers who administer immunizations in North Carolina have signed up for this program. We have been told that our service is faster and more individualized than what was previously provided by the vaccine manufacturers.

We want to count you as one of the more than 4,890 physicians who are participating in the UCVDP program.

Beth Rowe-West, R.N., B.S.N.
Head, North Carolina Immunization Branch