You Must Provide Patients with Vaccine Information Statements (VISs)

What are Vaccine Informaon Statements (VISs)?

Vaccine Informaon Statements (VISs) are documents produced by

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevenon (CDC), in consulta-

on with panels of experts and parents, to properly inform vaccinees

(or their parents/legal representaves) about the risks and benets

of each vaccine. VISs are not meant to replace interacons with

healthcare providers, who should address any quesons or concerns

that the vaccinee (or parent/legal representave) may have.

Using VISs is legally required!

Federal law (under the Naonal Childhood Vaccine Injury Act,

NCIVA) requires a healthcare professional to provide a copy of the

current VIS to an adult paent or to a child’s parent/legal repre-

sentave before vaccinang an adult or child with a dose of the

following vaccines: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps,

rubella, polio, hepas A, hepas B, Haemophilus inuenzae type

b (Hib), inu enza, pneumococcal conjugate, meningococcal,

rotavirus, human papillomavirus (HPV), or varicella (chicken pox).

Where to get VISs

All available VISs can be downloaded from the websites of

Immunize.org at www.immunize.org/vaccines/vis/about-vis/ or

CDC at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/index.html. Ready-to-

copy versions may also be available from your state or local health

department.

Translaons: You can nd VISs in more than 40 languages on the

Immunize.org website at www.immunize.org/vaccines/vis-transla-

ons/spanish/.

You Must Provide Paents with

Vaccine Informaon Statements

(VISs) – It’s Federal Law!

According to CDC, the appropriate VIS must be given:

• Prior to the vaccinaon (and prior to each dose of a

mul-dose series);

• Regardless of the age of the vaccinee;

• Regardless of whether the vaccine is given in a public

or private healthcare seng.

To obtain translaons of VIS in languages other than

English, go to

www.immunize.org/vaccines/vis-transla-

ons/spanish/

Adenovirus ....................1/8/20

Anthrax ..........................1/8/20

COVID-19 ................10/19/23

Cholera ......................10/30/19

Dengue......................12/17/21

DTaP ...............................8/6/21

Ebola ............................ 6/30/22

Hepas A ...............10/15/21

Hepas B ................. 5/12/23

Hib ...................................8/6/21

HPV .................................8/6/21

Inuenza ........................8/6/21

Japanese enceph ...... 8/15/19

MenACWY ....................8/6/21

MenB ..............................8/6/21

MMR ...............................8/6/21

MMRV ............................8/6/21

Mul-vaccine ............ 7/24/23

PCV .............................. 5/12/23

PPSV23 .....................10/30/19

Polio ................................8/6/21

Rabies .............................6/2/22

RSV ............................10/19/23

Rotavirus ..................10/15/21

Smallpox/monkeypox

11/14/22

Td .....................................8/6/21

Tdap ................................8/6/21

Tick-borne encephalis

12/7/23

Typhoid .....................10/30/19

Varicella .........................8/6/21

Yellow fever ..................4/1/20

Zoster .............................2/4/22

As of December 7, 2023, the most recent versions of the VISs are:

Top 10 Facts About VISs

It’s federal law! You must provide current* VISs

to all your paents before vaccinang them.

Federal law requires that VISs must be used for paents of

ALL ages when administering these vaccines:

• DTaP • MMR and MMRV

• Td and Tdap •

meningococcal (MenACWY, MenB)

• hepas A • pneumococcal conjugate

• hepas B • polio

• Hib • rotavirus

• HPV • varicella (chickenpox)

• inuenza (inacvated and live, intranasal)

For the vaccines not covered under NCVIA (i.e., adenovirus, anthrax,

COVID-10, dengue, ebola, Japanese encephalis, pneumococcal

polysaccharide, rabies, RSV, smallpox/monkeypox, ck-borne en-

cephalias, typhoid, yellow fever, and zoster), providers are not re-

quired by federal law to use VISs unless they have been purchased

under CDC contract. However, CDC recommends that VISs be used

whenever these vaccines are given. When administering a vaccine

under condions of an emergency use authorizaon (EUA), an EUA

fact sheet must be used.

*Federal law allows up to 6 months for a new VIS to be used.

VISs can be given to paents in a variety of ways.

In most medical sengs, VISs are provided to paents (or their

parents/legal representaves) in paper form. However, VISs also

may be provided using electronic media. Regardless of the format

fa c t

c o n tinu e d o n t h e n e x t p a g e

FOR PROFESSIONALS www.immunize.org / FOR THE PUBLIC www.vaccineinformation.org

www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2027.pdf

Item #P2027 (12/7/2023)

Scan for PDF

fa c t

used, the goal is to provide a current VIS just prior to vaccinaon.

(For informaon on special circumstances involving vaccinaon

of a child when a parent/legal representave is not available

at the me of vaccinaon, see CDC’s VIS Frequently Asked

Quesons at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/about/vis-faqs.html.)

Prior to vaccinaon, VIS may be:

• Provided as a paper copy

• Oered on a permanent, laminated oce copy

• Downloaded by the vaccinee (parent/legal representave) to a

smartphone or other electronic device (VISs have been specially

formaed for this purpose)

• Made available to be read before the oce visit, e.g., by giving

the paent or parent a copy to take home during a prior visit, or

telling them how to download or view a copy from the Internet.

These paents must sll be oered a copy in one of the formats

described previously to read during the immunizaon visit, as

a reminder.

Regardless of the way the paent is given the VIS to read, providers

must sll oer a copy (which can be an electronic copy) of each

appropriate VIS to take home following the vaccinaon. However,

the vaccinee may decline.

VISs are required in both public and private

sector healthcare sengs.

Federal law requires the use of VISs in both public and private sector

sengs, regardless of the source of payment for the vaccine.

You must provide a current VIS before a vaccine

is administered to the paent.

A VIS provides informaon about the disease and the vaccine and

must be given to the paent before a vaccine is administered.

It is also acceptable to hand out the VIS well before administering

vaccines (e.g., at a prenatal visit or at birth for vaccines an infant

will receive during infancy), as long as you sll provide a current

VIS right before administering vaccines.

You must provide a current VIS for each dose

of vaccine you administer.

The most current VIS must be provided before each dose of vaccine

is given, including vaccines given as a series of doses. For example,

if 5 doses of a single vaccine are required (e.g., DTaP), the paent

(parent/legal representave) must have the opportunity to read

the informaon on the VIS before each dose is given.

You must provide VISs whenever you administer

combinaon vaccines.

If you administer a combinaon vaccine that does not have a

stand-alone VIS (e.g., Kinrix, Quadracel, Pediarix, Pentacel, Twin rix,

Vaxelis) you should provide the paent with individual VISs for the

component vaccines, or use the Mul-Vaccine VIS.

The Mul-Vaccine VIS may be used in place of the individual VISs

for DTaP, Hib, hepas B, polio, and pneumococcal when two or

more of these vaccines are administered during the same visit. It

may be used for infants as well as children through 6 years of age.

The Mul-Vaccine VIS should not be used for adolescents or adults.

VISs should be given in a language/format that

the recipient can understand, whenever possible.

For paents who don’t read or speak English, the law requires

that providers ensure all paents (parent/legal representaves)

receive a VIS, regardless of their ability to read English. To obtain

VISs in more than 40 languages, visit the Immunize.org website at

www.immunize.org/vis. Providers can supplement VISs with visual

presentaons or oral explanaons as needed.

Federal law does not require signed consent in

order for a person to be vaccinated.

Signed consent is not required by federal law for vaccinaon

(although some states may require it).

To verify that a VIS was given, providers must

record in the paent’s medical record (or perma-

nent oce log or le) the following informaon:

VISs should not be altered before giving them to

paents, but you can add some informaon.

Providers should not change a VIS or write their own VISs. However,

it is permissible to add a pracce’s name, address, and contact

informaon to an exisng VIS.

Addional resources on VISs and their use are available from the

following organizaons:

Immunize.org

• VIS general informaon and translaons in more than 40 languages:

www.immunize.org/vaccines/vis/about-vis/

• Current Dates of Vaccine Informaon Statements:

www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2029.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevenon

• VIS website: www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis

• VIS Facts: www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/about/facts-vis.html

• VIS FAQs: www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/about/vis-faqs.html

• The edion date of the VIS • The date the VIS is provided

(found on the back at the (i.e., the date of the visit when

right boom corner) the vaccine is administered)

In addion, providers must record:

• The oce address and name • The date the vaccine is

and tle of the person who administered

administers the vaccine • The vaccine manufacturer

and lot number

fa c t

You Must Provide Paents with Vaccine Informaon Statements (VISs) – It’s Federal Law! (connued) page 2 of 2

www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2027.pdf / Item #P2027 (12/7/2023)

fa c t