Government of New Brunswick

Pneumococcal Vaccine

The Department of Health will be offering a Pneumococcal Polysaccharide vaccine at no cost to New Brunswick residents effective December 1, 2022.

Eligibility

Licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who have completed training and have been authorized by the New Brunswick College of Pharmacists to administer injections may administer the following publicly funded pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine to all New Brunswick residents who are 65 years of age or older:

  • PNEUMOVAX 23 Vaccine, DIN 02436442

The pharmacist may employ a registered nurse, physician, or nurse practitioner to administer the pneumococcal vaccine, however they cannot administer and bill for New Brunswick residents under 65 years old.

Claim Submission

A patient profile should be set up for any client and must include the vaccine recipient's name and address, Medicare number (if available), date of birth, date the vaccine was administered and the name and lot number of the vaccine.

The Department of Health will pay participating providers for each claim billed for eligible patients in New Brunswick. The participating provider is not permitted to charge additional fees to the patient for administration or prescribing of publicly funded pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.

Manual claims will not be accepted. Claims must be submitted online and include the following information:

Field Information Required

Carrier ID

NB

Group Number or Code

I (Note: this also applies to New Brunswick Drug Plans beneficiaries.)

Client ID

Patient’s NB Medicare number.  (Note: this also applies to New Brunswick Drug Plans beneficiaries.)

For individuals from out of province, temporarily residing in New Brunswick and who have not been issued a NB Medicare number, enter “999 999 999” in place of the Medicare number.

Note: If there is a requirement for a pharmacy to submit more than one claim on the same day for the same DIN under this pseudo Medicare number, subsequent claims must be submitted with Intervention Code “MG”.

Patient Code

Leave Blank

Patient Name

Patient’s first and last name

Patient DOB

Patient’s date of birth

Prescriber ID

New Brunswick College of Pharmacists Licence Number of the pharmacist administering the vaccine.

Note: If there is a requirement for a registered nurse/physician/nurse practitioner to administer the vaccine on behalf of the pharmacist, claims must be submitted with New Brunswick College of Pharmacists Licence Number of the pharmacist.

Prescriber ID
Reference Code

46

DIN / PIN

PNEUMOVAX 23, DIN 02436442

Quantity

1

Days Supply

1

Drug Cost / Product Value

Zero

Cost Upcharge

Zero

Professional Fee

$13.00

Note: Regulation 2009-136, section 14 under the Public Health Act requires that those who administer a vaccine provide the recipient with a record of the immunization.  A computer generated-prescription receipt would satisfy this requirement.

Pharmacy Ordering Information

Pharmacies should order the pneumococcal vaccine at no cost from the provincial supply via the Vaccine Operations Centre (VOC). This is the same process pharmacies follow when ordering COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. An allocation will be uploaded to the VOC SharePoint for pharmacies to accept or change to zero. The pneumococcal vaccine will be distributed from McKesson.

If pharmacies have any questions, they are encouraged to contact the Vaccine Operation Centre (VOC) at [email protected]

Please ensure the publicly funded pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine supply is used for this program.

Vaccine records

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who administer the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine should access the Public Health Information Solution (PHIS) to view clients’ immunization records.

To request PHIS immunization viewing access, pharmacy immunizers may complete and return the “Public Health Information Solution – User Account Request Form Immunization viewing” to the PHIS Helpdesk Support Team at [email protected].

As per the Public Health Act, all immunizers of publicly funded vaccines must document the immunization within one week of administration and provide the patient a copy of the immunization records. To meet this requirement, pharmacists need to enter the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine administration into the DIS within one week of the client’s receipt of vaccine. The DIS sends this immunization information directly to the Public Health Information Solution (PHIS). It is important to ensure that the vaccine information is accurate as this becomes a client’s official immunization record in the immunization registry.

Pharmacy Audits

Payments made for fees that do not comply with this policy are subject to audit and recovery.