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Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Vaccines & Immunizations

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Vaccines for Children Program (VFC)

Welcome to Vaccines for Children Program




Overview

Welcome to the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program.

The VFC program is a federally funded program that provides vaccines at no cost to children who might not otherwise be vaccinated because of inability to pay. VFC was created by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 as a new entitlement program to be a required part of each state's Medicaid plan. The program was officially implemented in October 1994.

Funding for the VFC program is approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and allocated through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC buys vaccines at a discount and distributes them to grantees—i.e., state health departments and certain local and territorial public health agencies—which in turn distribute them at no charge to those private physicians' offices and public health clinics registered as VFC providers.

Children who are eligible for VFC vaccines are entitled to receive pediatric vaccines that are recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

 

 

 

 

 

This page last modified on December 30, 2008
Content last reviewed on December 3, 2008
Content Source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

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Vaccines and Immunizations