Vaccine Distribution and Administration promotes a core public health function in North Carolina through partnership and collaboration with local partners, and strives to eliminate the transmission of vaccine preventable disease through effective immunization programs and outbreak control measures. Utilizing best practice strategies and evidence-based programming activities achieves this mission.

Basic statewide core activities include:

• Vaccine Delivery -- Ordering federal vaccines and distributing them to Vaccines for Children (VFC) enrolled providers.
• Accountability and Management -- Monitoring proper vaccine storage, handling, safety and usage. Assuring compliance with federal requirements of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) and Section 317 programs. Visiting providers to conduct VFC Site Visits and IQIP (Immunization Quality Improvement for Providers) visits. Ensuring federal requirements are met and enforcing state immunization laws and compliance requirements.
• Program Support -- Providing training and education to health professionals. Informing providers and the public about vaccination schedules and CDC’s Standards for Pediatric Immunization Practices. Ensuring that children, birth through age 18, are appropriately immunized. Providers must administer vaccines according to the schedule recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unless in the provider's medical judgment (subject to accepted medical practice) such compliance is medically inappropriate.
• Outbreak Control -- Monitoring and protecting the public from the occurrence of vaccine-preventable diseases. Preparing for and responding to public health emergencies.
• Monitoring Effectiveness -- Monitoring vaccine coverage and compliance with state requirements.  Collecting and analyzing immunization data to ensure the service is effective and in compliance with state and federal requirements.
• Immunization Information Systems -- Maintaining the North Carolina Immunization Registry (NCIR), delivering a secure, confidential web based statewide computerized immunization information system.
  

Activities related to Vaccine Distribution and Administration provides a link between the federal Vaccines for Children (VFC) and Section 317 Programs, which helps families by providing vaccines at no cost to children who might not otherwise be vaccinated because of inability to pay. CDC buys vaccines at a discount and distributes them to grantees — i.e., state health departments and certain local public health agencies — which in turn distribute them at no charge to those private physicians' offices and public health clinics registered as VFC providers. The VFC program is administered at the national level by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and at the local level by the North Carolina Immunization Program (NCIP). Enrolled VFC providers are able to order VFC vaccine through the NCIP and receive ACIP routinely recommended vaccines at no cost. This allows them to provide routine immunizations to eligible children without high out-of-pocket costs.