Yes. This program provides vaccines for individuals from birth until 64 years of age.

State supplied vaccines will be available for all children and adults. Physicians and other providers will continue working with the Maine Immunization Program as before, using the same processes for ordering and receiving vaccines and doing the same quality assurance activities. More vaccines, including some combination vaccines, will be available for ordering for all children and adults.

Vaccine distribution for children began in January 2012, while the vaccine distribution for adults will begin in Fall 2026.

Yes. Eligibility status screening is still a federal/state requirement for every visit and has not changed.

No. Providers should not include any code in their billing for the state-supplied vaccines. They should only bill for administrative costs.

Routinely recommended and approved vaccines for children and adults will be available at no cost to physicians and other providers. The Vaccine Board will determine the list of vaccines to be made available. For a list of vaccines and presentations that will initially be available, visit the Maine Vaccine Board website here.

Vaccines that are approved by the Maine Vaccine Board will be available for all children through physicians and other healthcare providers. Patients will not be charged for the cost of the vaccine. Therefore, financial barriers, (e.g. high insurance deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses), will no longer be an obstacle for individuals to receive vaccine care. This is one of the best ways to improve immunization rates and keep individuals healthy.

Yes.  This vaccine is one of the types of flu vaccine that will be available through the Universal Immunization Program.

Since the assessment only covers the cost of the vaccine, providers will bill either the payers or the patients directly for vaccine administration fees, as is their current practice.

Yes.  The vaccine administration fee is not affected by this legislation.

You cannot deny administration of a state supplied vaccine to an established patient because the child’s parent/guardian/individual of record is unable to pay the administration fee.

The Universal Childhood Immunization Program was established by 2009 Public Law 595 to provide all children from birth until 19 years of age in the State with access to a uniform set of vaccines as determined and periodically updated by the Maine Vaccine Board. Pursuant to 2025 Public Law 440, the program was expanded to include adults and renamed the Universal Immunization Program. Vaccine purchase is funded by an assessment on health insurance carriers and 3rd-party administrators registered under Title 24-A of the Maine Revised Statutes.

No.  Flu vaccine will be provided for all children and adults.

No.  The same vaccines will be available to all individuals.

Not typically. If there is a national shortage or a vaccine is received in multiple shipments (like seasonal influenza vaccine), those vaccines will be allocated. Vaccine orders will continue to be monitored based on past usage and inventory to ensure that physicians and other healthcare providers have no more than 45 days of inventory at any given time.  The goal is to make sure physicians and other healthcare providers have enough vaccine to vaccinate children and adults when they are in the office.

This new legislation was designed to reach all children in Maine. It is the goal of the Maine Vaccine Board to implement this program in a way that allows all Maine healthcare providers who care for children to participate fully. The authorizing legislation for this program does not dictate whether health plans or other payers will continue to reimburse providers for any privately purchased vaccines. Each health plan or other payer will make its own policy. Please contact the health plan directly for further information.

Yes. Pharmacists may also enroll in the Vaccine Distribution Program to receive state-supplied vaccine for all children and for adults who are covered by participating payers.

Patients whose payers have opted into the program will not be charged for the cost of the vaccine; however, some patients may still be charged an immunization administration fee by their provider.

If your practice is already enrolled as a Maine Immunization Program provider, you do not need to do anything to enroll in the Program right now.  Medical providers who are not currently enrolled as Maine Immunization Program Providers can enroll now in order to prepare for the start of the Program.  Contact the Maine Immunization Program for details about enrolling.  

Benefits include:  
Receive state supplied vaccine at no cost for all children and adults in your practice.
Maintain continuity of care: All of your patients receive immunizations in their medical home.
This promotes:
-Fewer missed opportunities: Patients won’t miss immunizations due to being referred elsewhere.
-Knowing if a patient is up to date for immunizations when treating them for other illnesses.
-No need for up-front purchase of vaccines.
-No need to keep two separate inventories of vaccines for VFC Children and privately insured children.
-Access valuable public health resources for your practice:

• Staff training.
• Technical assistance on vaccine and immunization issues.
• Best practices in vaccine storage and handling:
  • Inventory management, temperature monitoring, and vaccine ordering.
  • Information about new vaccines, schedules, and vaccine supply issues.
• Help measuring, promoting and achieving high immunization coverage rates for your practice.

-More combination vaccines will be available through this program:

• Fewer needle sticks will be needed to fully vaccinate a patient.
• Acceptance of more scheduled vaccines can be achieved.
• Rates can be improved with the effective use of combination vaccines.

As directed by statute, the Maine Vaccine Board determines the list of vaccines to be made available by the Program and will review the selection annually. This vaccine selection is done through the APA rulemaking process and public input is welcome.  You can submit questions or input to immunizeme@maine.gov.  For the list of vaccines that will be offered initially, please visit the website at: www.MEvaccine.org.

The Maine Immunization Program will operate much the same as it currently does. Availability of state supplied vaccines will be expanded to all children and more vaccine choices will be available. Vaccine ordering and accountability processes are expected to remain relatively the same. All providers who receive state supplied vaccine will be required to use the ImmPact2 Immunization Information System for ordering and vaccine accounting.

All state supplied vaccines may be kept together.

In a bona fide shortage situation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes vaccine available to states through an allocation process.  Shortages mean limited supplies may be available, but the Maine CDC will make as much vaccine available as possible. In addition, the Maine Vaccine Board has the authority to make temporary adjustments to the vaccine list to accommodate supply variations.

All providers will be required to use the Maine Immunization Information System (ImmPact2) to order vaccine and report doses administered either on a per patient basis or aggregate each month.

Yes.  The current program requirements will stay the same.

The program is not funded by taxpayers. The program collects the costs of vaccines and program expenses from insurers, third-party administrators, and other payers who are already obligated to pay health care costs for their beneficiaries. These funds are paid directly to the state so the state can purchase vaccines at federal contract rates. This lowers the cost to insurers of funding immunization services.