COVID-19 Vaccine Updates
CDA advocacy efforts continue, vaccine administration waiver for dentists granted
The rate by which dentists are receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations varies widely across the state, depending on county-level distribution. CDA is working closely with State Oral Health Director Dr. Jayanth Kumar to communicate with county public health officers the importance of vaccinating dental offices as soon as possible.
CDA has provided an overview of California’s vaccine administration plan, what is known about local logistics for vaccinating dental team members and ongoing advocacy efforts. An extensive FAQ on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is also available to members.
DCA permits dentists to administer COVID-19 vaccines
As a result of recent CDA advocacy efforts and in a move to address the state’s shortage of health care providers eligible to administer COVID-19 vaccines, the Department of Consumer Affairs approved a public health emergency waiver that will allow dentists to administer COVID-19 vaccines to people age 16 and over.
CDA continues to advocate for partnership with dentistry when establishing mass vaccination clinics and to ensure that dentists that begin administering the vaccine are vaccinated themselves first.
Dentists already have the ability to practice outside of their traditional scope of practice during declared states of emergency under the direction of government entities. The DCA waiver establishes the necessary training dentists must complete through the CDC that is specific to vaccine administration, contraindications and adverse reactions.
The required trainings, totaling three hours, are free and self-paced:
· COVID-19 Vaccine Training: General Overview of Immunization Best Practices for Healthcare Providers (0.5h)
· Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine: What Healthcare Professionals Need to Know (0.5h)
· What Clinicians Need to Know About the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines (1h)
· What Every Clinician Should Know about COVID-19 Vaccine Safety (1h)
While the trainings do not currently count toward continuing education requirements, CDA is working with the Legislature to not only make the scope expansion permanent, but also to have the CDC courses retroactively count towards C.E. renewal requirements. An FAQ on the specifics of the DCA waiver and administrating the vaccine will be published shortly.