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August 31, 2022

Employee Influenza Vaccinations Available September 1

Employee Health, together with Infection Prevention, will provide free flu vaccinations to all AltaMed employees beginning Thursday, September 1.

This year, the goal is to vaccinate 70% of our employees within the first week of September. Clinics that achieve 70% participation in the first week will receive Door Dash lunch gift cards – the challenge is on! 

Employee Health will provide additional staff at many AltaMed locations starting Thursday, September 1 through Friday, September 9 to help reach this goal. Appointments are not necessary during this time, so take full advantage of having vaccinators available to you—and get the shot, not the flu.

What to Do:

• Click here for a complete list of AltaMed locations (with days and times) offering onsite flu vaccinations.

• Complete the consent form before getting your flu shot:
• Employee Influenza Vaccine Consent Form (English) 2022-2023
• Employee Influenza Vaccine Consent Form (Spanish) 2022-2023

• For employees declining the flu vaccine, click on Employee AltaMed Influenza Vaccine Declination 2022-2023.

• If you receive the flu vaccine outside of AltaMed, please send proof of the vaccination to Employee Health.

After Friday, September 9, vaccinators will continue to offer flu shots at some AltaMed locations till the end of the month. Employees can also contact Employee Health to schedule an appointment for the flu vaccination.

All employees who receive their flu vaccine by Monday, October 31 will be entered in our annual flu raffle! Winners will be announced in November.

This year, more than ever, it is important to get the flu vaccine to protect your family, your coworkers, and yourself.

To learn more about the 2022-2023 flu season, please visit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Grand Rounds Update

Sherrill Brown, M.D., Medical Director of Infection Prevention, presented at the Tuesday, August 30 Special Grand Rounds, Infectious Diseases Update. 

Topics Discussed:

• Infectious Diseases Update
• Flu Vaccine Plan for Patients
• Flu Vaccine Contest!
• Variants and Variant Vaccine
• COVID-19 Testing and Smart Phrases for Letters
• ID Now Experience
• Mpox Update
• Responding to a Positive Test
• Tpoxx Treatment
• Assessing a Patient
• Oh, and Now There is POLIO

Resources:

• Presentation Slides
• Webex Video Recording 
• Mpox information on Town Square

Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Available to Patients

AltaMed is on track to go live with the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for patients 12 years and older starting Thursday, September 1. At this time, this vaccine will be available at:

• AltaMed Medical and Dental Group – Commerce, Goodrich
• Tuesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

• AltaMed Medical and Dental Group – Anaheim
• Wednesday from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

General Information:

• The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is an alternate (protein-subunit) vaccine available for adults. It is in addition to the mRNA COVID-19 adult vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna.

• Novavax is approved as a primary series vaccine for patients 12 years and older.

• For patients who previously received one dose of an mRNA vaccine and were not able to receive the second dose for medical reasons or personal preference:
• They may receive one dose of Novavax to complete their primary series.
• This dose should be at least 28 days after the first dose.
• There is no maximum time allowed between first and second doses.

• There are no boosters approved for Novavax at this time.



• Vaccines using protein subunits have been used for more than 30 years in the United States, beginning with the first licensed hepatitis B vaccine and later TDAP.

Click on the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine fact sheet to learn more.

Safety Guidelines at Work



1. Wear your masks—Face masks are to be worn at all times over your nose and mouth (except when drinking or eating) and should be stored properly or discarded. Patients need to wear masks at all times in examination rooms as well.
2. Maintain hand hygiene—Staff should have easy access to hand sanitizer dispensers to clean hands frequently and should wash their hands for 20 seconds at a time.
3. Practice physical distancing—Stay six feet apart from other individuals whether inside or outside.
4. Wipe down any work surfaces you touch.
5. If employees need to be within six feet of someone for a prolonged period of time, wear a face shield and face mask in both administrative and clinical settings—avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. In addition, a face shield and face mask need to be worn at all times when interacting with patients.
6. Employees must wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when on site. 

Questions and Communications

We welcome your COVID-19 or infection prevention questions, suggestions, and input. Please email us—click here. Know that this is a safe space and most questions will be answered individually prior to being shared anonymously with staff.

How to Stay Informed

• COVID-19 Alert
• altamed.org/vaccine
• Town Square home page

Please Note: If you are contacted by the media with questions about the coronavirus outbreak or for any other reason, email Christina Sanchez, Vice President, Public Affairs. The Public Relations team monitors all media coverage of AltaMed (social and traditional platforms) to uphold our reputation. If you have questions and concerns regarding media coverage, call Christina at (310) 420-1135. If you would like to read news releases from AltaMed, visit our external website, AltaMed.org under Newsroom.